Hmmmm

It's been a very long journey since the summer ended and to be honest... I want my summer back!  Moving back to Florida has taught me a very valuable lesson in planning and thinking things through.  When I decided to come back to Florida, I didn't really have any other place that I really felt called to be.  I loved my church, I loved (and still absolutely adore) my friends, they wanted me here, and so I thought, "Why not?"

My family here wasn't entirely excited about me coming back, assuring me that the economic situation of this city was not one that you move here for.  But I didn't listen, I had made up my mind and I didn't even think about it... my next thought was I need a place to live.  Leah was awesome and found this perfect place for us and that was that.  But when I actually got here and began to try to figure out my life here, I realized that maybe this wasn't the right choice.  The economy is in fact, bad... and everyone says, it's the national economy, but NO, no it's particularly bad here.  Everyone is looking for a job.  I am overqualified for the jobs I am applying for and there is nothing that can pay what I need to live.  So, needless to say, I have been stressed.  There are so many job opportunities back in Texas right now and I may have to go back sooner than I want to, but I guess it's finally hit me that I have to grow up and be an adult.

My week and a half trip back to Texas was extremely helpful.  I got to reconnect with people I hadn't seen all summer and other people that I really wanted to see and I felt refreshed and more prepared to come back to Florida.

I can thank my wonderful friends here for making my time here bearable!  Friday night, we all went to the beach and played volleyball, then football, then everyone ran into the ocean with all our clothes on and played in the waves, which was frankly a little terrifying because it was so dark.  Then we went back to our place and ordered pizza and hung out.  Saturday after church, some of us went to Cici's Pizza then Cara and Tara came over and we watched Heroes (my latest addiction).  The girls spent the night and Leah made us homemade donuts for breakfast and brought us lunch after church.  It was really a wonderful weekend and I'm so thankful for that.

I just feel like I'm in a very weird place right now.  I'm not gonna lie, I sure don't like it.  There is so much going on in my life that I'm certainly not gonna blog about, but the only way to describe the way I feel sometimes, is Damaged, which is a horrible way to feel.  But I hope and pray that God will use this time to bring me closer to Him, that He will teach me and use me here to His glory and that I will have a positive outlook!

Welcome to the World Brannen Ruth Weathers

Here she is

With her daddy :)

   With mom and dad

  Little Asian baby!  Definitely got her mom's eyes!

I'm so already in love with her.  I can't wait to meet her!!

So camp totally sucked me in this summer.... hence my lack of posting. And this post is going to be short because it's almost 1am and I still haven't gotten everything ready to move. This summer was wonderful. I'm sad to see it go, stressed about getting a job in Florida, hopeful for the future, missing some wonderful Texans already, and I haven't even left yet. Me and my mom are packing my Mustang and leaving tomorrow for a wedding in Louisiana. THEN we're driving to St. George's island on the West coast of Florida, THEN to Ormond Beach to move me into my new duplex with Leah (!), THEN I'm driving mom to Atlanta, THEN I'm driving back to Ormond Beach..... THEN bills are due like the day I get back... Oh and I won't have a job until then. This reminds me of America's Funniest Home Videos and there's this little boy who has a loose tooth and his parents are about to pull it out until he burst into absolutely heart wrenching sobs. His mom tells him that loosing his baby teeth is a part of growing up to which he replies in sobs and tears, "I don't wanna be a grownup!" Well I don't really either right now... that is all. Hopefully I will have more cheerful things to say later

So there's so much that has happened, but not enough time to get online and actually write about them.... or maybe it was that I didn't make any time to get on and write about it. In any case, I haven't written in over a month. I turned 23, put my chihuaha Harvey to be put to sleep ON my birthday (lovely welcome into adulthood), drove to Ft. Worth to see Paige marry wonderful Jason, visited Baylor (and bought my future niece the cutest BU cheerleading outfit ever), went to Faith's 4th birthday party (my Belle barbie doll was a huge success), officially cleaned out everything in my room from my childhood, and started another summer of Prude Ranch Summer Camp.
It's been a lot of fun so far. I forgot how much I really love Texas things-- BIG diesel trucks, cowboy hats, boots, camping out, hobo packs, spurs, horses, rodeos! Counselor orientation went very well and our group is really close. We have a really cool animal life habitat by the arena now that houses two calfs, pokie the adult duck, 9 ducklings (I named the black one Beauregard), 2 piglets, 2 donkies and 1 baby, and a 2 week old goat. We rode a lot and I forgot how much I enjoyed that too. I still really miss my wonderful Floridians, but I have begun to realize that I make my home wherever I am. I think that's why I could see myself living anywhere. I'm excited to see all of the places I will go!
So my sister-in-law is due in August, my brother was not set to get back from Iraq until October... but now it looks like he'll be coming home late August! He will probably miss his daughter's birth, but he will get to meet her much sooner than first anticipated, which makes me soooo excited for them. And he got promoted to Captain a couple of weeks ago and I'm very excited for them as they start this new adventure in life. I also believe that I be pretty much the best auntie ever so that's all exciting.
Well first session is almost over and I have a very busy day tomorrow, but I did want to catch all of you up with a little bit of what has been going on. I hope that everyone is having as fun a summer as I am!

Ormond Beach, Je'Taime

I flew out of Orlando on Tuesday for Atlanta. I was definitely drained from all of the packing and leaving my wonderful friends, but everything went smoothly on the flight and all 3 of my huge bags arrived immediately after the belt started moving! Praise Jesus, because I've had some trouble with that in the past. My Aunt Suzanne and Aunt Shirley picked me up from the airport and we stopped at THE original Chickfila Dwarf House to pick up some lunch before heading to the house. We drank my Aunt Suzanne's famous sweet tea, chatted, and relaxed for a while but the "less drowsy" formula dramamine I took for my flight made me REALLY sleepy, so I took the kind of nap that is really hard to come out of before we had dinner. Then we waited around until my mom and sis-in-law pulled in from Texas at about 12:30am.

The next morning, we met the whole family at a BBQ place known for their amazing ribs. When our waiter heard that we wanted to buy some BBQ sauce to send to my brother in Iraq, he gave it to us for free, which we all thought was really nice. My Uncle Sam and Aunt Linda met us too, and I realized how much I love hearing my uncle talk. He has one of those true, deep, story-telling, Southern voices. He sounds a lot like Shelby Foote, a major civil war historian who I could listen to forever. It's the kind of voice you envision Robert E. Lee having. I love it! My cousin Jennifer left Sarah, who turned one in February, with us to spend the night and can I just say that we had a blast! My other cousin Franklin and his wife Amanda, who is due like NOW, came over for dinner and we all played with Sarah outside. It's so beautiful and green right now. Sarah loved Hannah (Adam/Krista's doberman) and Krista even let me take a picture or two of her, growing belly and all. We even got to take a peek at Franklin and Amanda's nursery, which is adorable and gave Krista some ideas.

Thursday, mom, Krista, and I drove to North Carolina and we spent the entire 8 hour drive just talking. Obviously, I would much rather have Adam here to be with Krista, but this has really given us a chance to get to know each other and grow closer which has been so nice! Friday was Krista's sonogram and the woman who does it was looking at different things and measuring stuff and then she goes, "OH, this is a money shot!" and points out to us that baby Weathers is, without a doubt in heaven, a girl. I can also assure those of you who caught this weeks Grey's Anatomy that all of her organs are growing inside her body. Oh, and she also has ginormous, Angelina Jolie lips apparently. That night, we watched Amazing Grace, which is an incredible movie that I recommend to all of you. It's about William Wilberforce, a British politician who helped end the slave trade and it's about the actual song. It's a great historical representation as well as a genuinely good movie. I own it so you can borrow it, but definitely see it!

Saturday was the most fun! We went to Baby Swank, a shi-shi baby place in Wilmington where Krista found her crib bedding as well as furniture. That night, we went to Mike's Farm, which is kinda like a homemade Cracker Barrel, only even better. They serve you family style and you only get one choice--fried chicken, pork, green beens, corn, mashed potatoes, biscuits with ham, and the best mac n cheese I've ever had in my life. The farm is also an actual Strawberry farm and they're in season, so for dessert we had delicious strawberry shortcake and strawberry topped cheescake. Needless to say, we were completely stuffed after our delicious meal!

Today (which was Sunday when I first started typing) I made chicken tacos for lunch while they measured, we ate, then painted pink stripes on one of the mocha brown walls in her nursery. We had cereal and popcorn for dinner while we watched August Rush.

I knew that I would be having so much fun, and I have so much to look forward to still, but I really miss my Floridians. I feel a bit stalkerish, I'm always texting Cara, Leah, or Lindsey, finding out what everyone is doing, etc, etc. I'm looking forward to being back too! Sorry this is ridiculously long and void of pics. I will adjust the latter and exacerbate the former soon!

Auf Wiedersehen

I'm so emotionally drained right now with saying goodbyes, which I always hate, as well as a few other things that I don't really care to go into detail over... nothing serious, only frustrating.

While packing tonight, the zipper on my duffle bag ripped off when I was trying to fit ONE MORE item in it and close it. This happened to be the straw that broke the camels back apparently and I just started crying. After a little finagling, however, I miraculously got it back on. Then one of my favorite collage frames (it holds four 5x7) fell over face first onto my toe and glass shattered all over the floor, then I started crying again... so I new it was time to stop packing for a bit.

On a much more positive note, my beautiful, talented, and above all Lord-loving friend, Molly, wrote about being at the "in between" stage in life in her blog and used a verse that was exactly what I needed to hear. And then I thought that somebody else might need to hear it as well so I'm putting it on mine:

Jeremiah 29:11-13 (The Message)
"I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out - plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.
When you call on me, when you come and pray to me, I'll listen. When you come looking for me, you'll find me. "

God speaks to me even when I have not done my part to search His word. Imagine what He would say if I spent the time with Him that I should!

It's a Girl!

So I've been doing a lot of babysitting recently. And I forgot how much I love children! I admit, it took me a bit to get back into the swing of communicating with toddlers and kids in general, but then I remembered how much fun they are! These last few weeks, I did childcare for a Walk to Emmaus, a women's bible study, and watched the pastor's beautiful daughters. So funny/cute stories (maybe you had to be there to appreciate them, but I'm gonna tell you anyway): The women's bible study is for my friend Barb at her sister Jess's house. At the house, I watch Barb's Jael (2?), her cousins Janessa (8) and Abby (6), Jess's Millie (short for Amelia 2ish?), Chloe (2), Riley (1.5 maybe), and Garrett (3?) while the women keep their infants (there are 3 infants and one on the way!) with them during their bible study. So Millie is adorable... but according to her mom she's also a stinker sometime. Understandably so, being in her own home and knowing mommy is in the next room, she wasn't happy the first time I was there and her cousin Jael wasn't there to (literally) slap her out of crying. So she walked up to the door and gently placed (note placed, not slapped or slammed) her little hand on the door, lowers her little head and so innocently and pathetically goes, "knock knock? Mummy?" as she cried. It was so heartbreakingly sweet and a little funny. Forward to next week: Jael's there and Millie is much happier, everything's going well and I'm feeling a lot better about babysitting. The women are thinking how quiet things are and so Jess thanks God for me and for the kids being good during their prayer to end the bible study. At that exact moment, Garrett accidentally bumps Millie over and she bursts into tears. This prompts Jael to cry too. I pick up Jael and calm her down as Jess opens the door and tells Millie that she's fine. Meanwhile, Garrett is looking terrified going, "I didn't mean to!" I go up to him cause he still looks so upset with himself and I say, "Oh it's okay Garrett. I know you didn't mean to and Millie's okay." This prompts HIM to sit down and burst into tears and whales! His mom comes in and goes "Did someone hit him?" Nuhuh. "Did he push someone?" Yes. "Oh, it's just self inflicted punishment." It was so cute.

Tonight I watched Alisha and Hanah while Joe and Luanne went to a concert featuring the talents of the Tomoka Worship Band and Beachside. I would have loved to go, but I had so much fun with the girls. We played hide-and-go-seek, Dora the Explorer Memory Game, watched Lady and the Tramp, then read a few books and went to bed (Note, this is pretty much the perfect night for me children or no children)

Sorry about all the baby talk.... OH BY THE WAY. My sister-in-law went to Odessa and got a 3D sonogram the other day. She felt really awful that Adam wouldn't be the first to know the sex of their baby so she got it and waited for him to call from Iraq before she told the rest of us that we are welcoming a baby GIRL into the Weather's family! I'm so excited about being an Aunt, I've already bought her some beautiful baby clothes, Pat the Bunny, Pat the Cat, My First Taggies Book, and some Doctor Seuss books. I already love her.

I'm so thankful for such a fun day/night. I really needed it. Leah left Thursday for Missouri and she comes back after I'm gone so I won't see her until August. And I hate having to get ready to leave. I have so many exciting things to look forward to this summer, but I love all the people here so much, it's like I don't want to miss anything. I'm like a sheep dog... I need everyone together... seriously, I want to herd everyone into the same room. Anyway, God is so awesome and I am so so so thankful for blessing me with this amazing church and these people!

He has taught me so much since I've been here, mostly about how much I fall short and how big His grace is. He has definitely been revealing to me how selfish I am and we all know what a battle that is! I desire that kind of knowledge so that I can allow Him to refine me and make me look more like Jesus, but of course when God reveals something to you, Satan always seems to be there to try to keep you from growing. And I'm in that time in my life where everything is so uncertain. Maybe it never becomes certain, but it just seems like it's more so right now. This is the first time in my life where I don't know exactly what's coming next, i.e. highschool-->college. The question of career, location, and FAMILY are just a few of the things that can so easily send me into a minor panic attack. And all of those things are entirely out of my control, which is frightening. I guess that's the point, having to rely solely on God to meet your needs, and he always does. Read about Elijah in 1Kings. God sends a famine on the land, tells him the ravens will feed him and he'll drink from the brook which Elijah does for a long time. Then God dries up the brook and sends Elijah to the last place he wants to go and has a widow take care of him. It's not easy listening and obeying, and He can change your plans suddenly, but the rewards for obedience are worth it. Now, I KNOW this to be true, but turning that knowledge into a realization is a bit more difficult. But God is Good All the Time and I can't help but be excited (amidst my terror) to see what He's planning for my life :)

Ball Games and Chicken Nuggets

We had a double header tonight in Church League Softball and I had SO MUCH FUN. I played last week too, and was really nervous. When we were warming up, I overthrew to Leah and nailed this little boy right in his elbow (NOT a good start). Rob (the coach) asked me what position I wanted to play and I told him that I didn't care. Then he said, "Look, I'm not your boyfriend, we're not on a date, I'm not asking you where you want to go for dinner or what movie you want to see, WHAT POSITION DO YOU WANT TO PLAY?" I'm not afflicted with false modesty okay, when I say I don't care, I really don't. So I told him that I played 3rd base and left field when I was in high school to which he said no to because that's where most of the balls are gonna go.... SO I didn't even get the position that I suggested and now I was more nervous!!! Then my first up to bat, I pulled a muscle. Not only did it hurt, but the team of men gave me a hard time about it. But my last hit was AWESOME, which was definitely a confidence booster. SO tonight, I wasn't nearly as nervous and I could just focus on having fun, which I did. I love softball and the fact that we got to play two games was even better. We won the first and lost the second. The second team we played was really good... and they showed a little better sportsmanship than we did, only a little, but I really enjoyed playing them and it was a close game.

After the long night of softball, I was hungry, so I headed to Chick-fil-a in GREAT anticipation of a delicious dinner. I went through the drive through and pulled up to the window and the guy looked really confused and he says, "number 5 with sweet tea and a small icedream in a cup?" and I was like, "....yeah." and he goes, "woah, that's the exact same order as the last 3 cars and I was like am I crazy?" and I was like, "wow." Then he told me that I would have to wait on the chicken nuggets (obviously with the mass order of nuggets and the fact that it was 20 minutes till closing, they were running low) which I didn't mind because that only meant I got fresh nuggets. So I'm sitting there and I can see in my rearview mirror that the woman and her son behind me are getting impatient... really impatient... impatient enough for her son to get out of the car to help her back up enough to go around me and DRIVE AWAY. How ridiculous! It certainly wasn't that long of a wait and WHERE on earth are you in a hurry to be going at 9:45pm?! I got my bag right before they pulled away so I moved forward and I could tell that she was YELLING AT THE Chick-fil-a guy! If I had of known how it was gonna go down, I would have paid for their meal, pulled forward, then gotten out of my car and nicely told them that they should really practice a little patience with people who are SERVING them. It's not some great conspiracy to make you wait a little bit for your food. It really hacks me off when people treat others that way... maybe it means I should look at myself and practice more patience with people around me, hmmmm.

Alirght, I'm gonna be in bed BEFORE 11 tonight... I have 11 minutes! Good night all and loads of love!

Random Thoughts

Just some completely random thoughts:

God is so patient with me... and I think He laughs a lot when I inform Him how I'm gonna do things.

Easter was great, I went to one of 3 Saturday night services at Tomoka Christian (and they had 4 today which are almost over right now! I'm sure Joe and the staff are exhausted!). I wore a blue dress... and I love it, it's beautiful. And I love Tomoka, a lot more than I love the dress. Except for the dress and extra special worship service, Easter sort of just came and went. I think it was the not having family to go with thing. But I have great friends, so that makes up for it.

So I bought some 500 thread count sheets at Target a few weeks ago and I finally put them on my bed and they are AMAZING. So I went to bed last night perfectly happy and content, but woke up about 3 in the morning and felt horribly sick. I didn't know wether to get up and head for the bathroom or what, but I couldn't move, even to get a drink of water by my bed. It was horrible so I just laid there for a couple of hours until I finally fell asleep again. And when I woke up this morning, I felt fine. So that was weird, and very unpleasant.

Oh, and God has revealed some more things to me recently... more information to come, but I'm excited!

Empty Me of Me

I've had just enough of the spotlight when it burns bright

To see how it gets in the blood.

And I've tasted my share of the sweet life and the wild ride

And found a little is not quite enough.

I know how I can stray

And how fast my heart could change.

Empty me of the selfishness inside

Every vain ambition and the poison of my pride

And any foolish thing my heart holds to

Lord empty me of me so I can be filled with you.

I've seen just enough of the quick buys of the best lies

To know how prodigals can be drawn away.

I know how I can stray

And how fast my heart could change.

Empty me of the selfishness inside

Every vain ambition and the poison of my pride

And any foolish thing my heart holds to

Lord empty me of me so I can be filled with you.

Cause everything is a lesser thing

Compared to you, compared to you.

Cause everything is a lesser thing

Compared to you so why surrender all?

Empty me of the selfishness inside

Every vain ambition and the poison of my pride

Empty me of the selfishness inside

Every vain ambition and the poison of my pride

And any foolish thing my heart holds to

Lord empty me of me so I can be

Lord empty me of me so I can be filled with you.

Oh, filled with you.

Empty me.

--Chris Sligh

Happy Trails

Well the time is coming for me to begin planning to leave Florida... and I am so disheartened about it. I never thought I'd say that I'm not ready to leave Ormond Beach! I'm certainly ready to be living with people my age again, but there are so many things that I have grown to love about this place.

God is so awesome. When I got here, the only things I earnestly asked for here were 1) a church to become a part of and to grow spiritually in and 2) true and good friends. And God gave me the absolute best of both. Tomoka Christian is such a wonderful church. I never cease to be amazed that everywhere I go, He provides THE church for me immediately. I never have to shop around, it's right there! I feel that Tomoka is in line with where God wants his people. And friends... God truly blessed me in that department. And these people were the first friends that I made "post-school" which is a truly terrifying ordeal and I genuinely love them. I could really BE here.

I feel like I'm in such a hard place right now. I plan to leave a place that I love and go to a place that I kinda' hate in order to pursue something that for many reasons, I shouldn't even attempt. It's so exciting to watch where God is directing your life, but sometimes it's quite hard to take that leap of faith. I've been praying for Him to impose His will on my life, and as of yet, He hasn't changed my mind about California. I'm kind of scared that if I was given the tiniest reason to stay here though, I would.

Oh, and as I did when I was in London, I'm at the two-months-prior-to-departure point where I get a bit weepy everytime I'm at church. It usually only lasts for a moment, but something will happen in worship, communion, prayer, or the sermon that reminds me of something here, and I just start crying. It's pretty ridiculous I know. But in London, I HAD to leave or I would have become an illegal immigrant. Not the case here. I'm actually choosing to leave

So this is completely unrelated, but everytime I see it on my friend's facebook I laugh. And I hate to end my posts without something light hearted so:

Jen

I am so tired of dealing with unbelievers... I don't necessarily mean non-Christians. Only people who have allowed the world to tell them that they can't climb that mountain, swim that ocean, make a difference, or whatever it is that that person dreams of doing. The most frustrating to me is the lack of belief in the power of God. I think we as people have learned so much about how God's creation works, that we forget that He put it all together, actually continues to allow it to work as I sit here and type this, and can take it all away in the blink of an eye.

A friend from high school passed away a couple of days ago,one of the greatest men of God I have ever known from the time he was quite young. He just got it. His entire purpose for living was to glorify God and to show others God through the simplest things like his infectious joy. When I found out, the only emotion I really experienced was feeling dumbfounded. Apparently he was lying on the floor praying (as he often did) and just.... died... of natural causes. No one knows what killed him... he just stopped being. Now, I do not pretend to know what happened, but I was snubbed by a family member when I suggested that maybe God just took him, because a "healthy 22 year old doesn't just die!" Well, yes they can. God doesn't need to give you some disease, cancer, or hit you with a car to end your life, and for some reason it made me pity her disbelief in God's power. If you are a Christian, do you NOT believe that God created the world and everything in it, that He sent a great flood that covered the earth, that he took Elijah to heaven in a chariot of fire, that Elisha prayed and the servant's eyes were opened to see the mountain full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha, that God sent Jesus via VIRGIN birth (wrap your head around THAT one... REALLY!) There is no reason for the stories of the Bible to be untrue, so why do you have such a hard time believing that they are? And if you truly believe that they happened, how can you not trust that God will take care of your needs now? (I deal with that every day, no judgement here!)

In the same way, but on a different (and slightly less significant) level, I get outraged over people stomping on other's dreams. I am NOT an idealist. I'm not, I know people who are. I don't believe in a basic goodness of man, Utopia, or the idea that we will ever be able to live at peace with each other. I hate to be called one. Maybe I am an idealist, or maybe you have become so cynical that even hope feels like an idealist notion to you. I don't have to be an idealist to believe that God can and does work miracles and that He will do great things in me and in you also.

The movie Finding Neverland sums up my sentiment on crushing dreams so I will end with this and be done with my venting:

Peter Llewelyn Davies: This is absurd. It's just a dog.
J.M. Barrie: Just a dog? *Just*? [to Porthos] Porthos, don't listen! [to Peter] Porthos dreams of being a bear, and you want to shatter those dreams by saying he's *just* a dog? What a horrible candle-snuffing word. That's like saying, "He can't climb that mountain, he's just a man", or "That's not a diamond, it's just a rock." Just.

Don't mistake cynicism for wisdom, they're not the same thing.

Jen

OH... and I cut my hair.... short. I like it

I know I haven't updated in almost a month. November was not a good month. Don't get me wrong, good things did happen, great things. There were plenty of blessings (so many more than I deserve) to be thankful for. But I've been in kind of a crap mood a lot. I know that sounds so rude, but there's really no better way to describe it. I wasn't home sick, but I felt sort of depressed. I don't think I was getting enough time to myself around my family for one thing-- my Aunt was the only person I saw EVERY SINGLE DAY all day. And it was difficult to work out how to live with my grandmother. Sharing an apartment with Lydia in college was easy, we had equal responsibilities, we both kept the apartment clean and tidy except when we were writing that paper last minute or cramming for finals in which case our stuff would be thrown everywhere, but we were okay with each others mess because we both did it, and we would get the whim to decorate for Christmas at midnight and head to Walmart to buy stuff or go get coffee at Common Grounds right before it closed. I'm at my grandmother's house and she wants me to feel at home, but absolutely nothing in this house is mine so how can I feel like I live here. It's all confined to my tiny little room.

And as I've said before, the young people that I've met here are so great and fun to be around. But being around my aunt and my grandmother too much made me feel like I wasn't seeing anyone else enough which made me feel isolated and lonely. It made the times that we did stuff so much more fun. I'm so thankful for long phonecalls from friends in between!

So--- to highlight one of the fun things that have happened here!

Barb's 30th (dundunDUUUUUUUUUN!) birthday was today and the girls went to Olive Garden to celebrate on Friday at lunch. I got the most beautiful cake from the bakery that did my grandparent's 65th wedding anniversary and it was.... amazing! It was carrot cake (Barb's choice) and the baker decorated it like a Tiffany & Co. gift box. I fell in love

I think December will be a better month. November got better toward the end. God is good all of the time and He amazes me with his faithfulness to me even when I'm such a mess!

On a lighter note, tonight, Paula Dean guest starred on Iron Chef: America and guess what the secret ingredient was... Sugar. It was amazing.

Jen

Meeting Flipper

I've had yet another great week. Saturday morning, Leah, Luke, Laura, Rusty, and I went to the Daytona Outreach Center for community service fun. The D.O.C. is located in a former crack house and the ministry is geared toward helping people who live in that area. Every Saturday, they get the bread from grocery stores that was supposed to be sold that day and taked it to homes and things like that. So we helped bag the bread, then painted the inside of their building. Of course clumsy me managed to spill a bucket of paint (but it was only a little bit and we cleaned it up so all was well).

After church on Sunday, Aunt Sandy and I took took the kayaks down the Halifax river. The weather was so nice and the water was perfect for kayaking. About 1/4 mile down the river, we saw a dorsal fin coming in and out of the water (we knew it was a dolphin) so I paddled over to the area. Dolphins are naturally curious so he would literally come within paddle distance to my kayak, then swim away and I would chase after him and he'd turn around and come up next to me again. It was so incredible to look directly into his eyes as he was looking at me. And to know that he could so easily get away from me, it was cool to think that he was interested in me. We followed him for about a mile, then decided we better turn back. The journey back wasn't nearly as fun. I wish I had pictures, but clearly my camera doesn't mix well with water. Kayaking is one of my new favorite things.

Leah texted tonight and asked me if I wanted to meet her at Barne's & Noble so I went up there and we browsed books and talked, which was a lot of fun. It's nice to hang out with people, other than my grandmother and aunt (and sometimes my uncle when he's not working). Then on the way home, a racoon narrowly escaped with his life when he ran out in front of my car. I'm glad he made it. It would have ruined my day if he hadn't.

Thought of the day (That has sooo been ringing true in my life. Why don't I just trust God?):

"I think we all have a need to know what we do not need to know." --William Safire

Jen

Wonderful Week!

What an eventful and good week I have had! Saturday morning was the Retro (college/20 somethings of Tomoka Christian) Dodgeball tournament, which was hilarious. My team didn't win, but at the end we played it where there are no teams so everyone starts in the middle and you put half of the balls on either side of the court. Then you run and can get absolutely anyone out. But, if you get out, you can get back in when the person who got you out gets out (get it?) and it was so funny to run back in and nail someone in the back as they're gloating over the person they just got out. Anyway, fun was had by all.

Afterwards, a big group of us went to Denny's for brunch. THEN, a group of us met that night to see Dan in Real Life. I thought that it was such a sweet movie. There were a few innuendoes, but I was pleased to see a heartwarming and tasteful story and Steve Carell is hilarious.

Went to church Sunday morning (Uncle Tommy came YAY!) then we did Retro a bit differently Sunday night. Played a lot of fun/silly games and Leah spoke to us about just what was on her heart about how us (20 somethings and Christian) in America are limited, not by too few options, but too many. And we're just trying to figure out which one God wants us to do and we are so worried about choosing the wrong direction. Perhaps God isn't as concerned about what we do, but that we know Him and glorify Him in what we do. Sometimes we get so impatient waiting on God, "Yet those who wait for (or hope in) the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary."--Isaiah 40:31.

Monday was the best surprise of the week. Katie had to come to Orlando to take some children back to their family so she drove to Ormond Beach to stay for a couple of days! We went back to Orlando Tuesday for her to have a visit with the kids then we went to Disney Village for the rest of the day, ate at the Rainforest Cafe then had dessert at Ghirardelli where I had the best brownie hot fudge sunday in the entire world. Downtown Disney has this glass store with a Swarovski crystal Cinderella's castle and for a mere $37,000, it can be yours!

Katie left Wednesday morning (booh), then I went to the church that evening to help with Neewollah (halloween spelled backwards, how creative!) which was a blast-- tons of blowups and great rides, plus tons of free candy, food, and musical entertainment for the kids. Retro was in charge of the blowup obstacle course which was totally awesome.

Tonight, Aunt Sandy and I went to see Rent at the Peabody Auditorium. I couldn't get over how well they could sing! I love the Theater, but everytime I go there or to see a movie, I am always reminded how I'm waiting on God and it feels like I'll never get to do what I dream about. I'm ready to go!

And to be yourself is all that you can do

To be yourself is all that you can do

--Audioslave

Jen

The Travel Bug is a Powerful Bug

I feel like I have nothing to say today... Not much has really gone on this week. My Aunt went to LA with my mother for an Herbalife meeting and came back with some little presents from my mom-- Magnolia Blossom perfume from Bath & Bodyworks, some freebie cards, night cream--girlie stuff basically. Herbalife has also come out with a new shake flavor, cafe latte, which tastes delicious so I'm excited to have a new flavor to add to my breakfast choices!

I feel like I'm getting the travel bug again. My mom brought it up first so it's really her fault. Then I was looking at my "Where I've Been" Map on facebook and felt that it was lacking. There are a lot of places that I still have to visit. So I'm thinking about starting in London (because I will never go across the ocean without stopping in my city) then maybe heading to Germany and taking a train to Poland and then through to Russia to Moscow and then St. Petersburg.

I also have to figure out about flying to LA sometime to check out apartments and Ashley said she was going home to Santa Clarita for Baylor's spring break and that I could go with her and she could help. BUT, Megan and Kyle's spring breaks from Dental School and Physical Therapy school happen to fall on the same dates and I really want them to both come up to visit.... What a conundrum.

I better start saving...

Jenna

Marriage and Being Underaged

I had an epiphany while watching Friends the other day. I realized how you can be so bothered about not being married while at the same time knowing fully well that it's not the right time and you really don't want to be married right now. Before you go to college, you have your family-mom, dad, brother, sister, animals, etc. They are YOUR family and your central focus. Then you go to college, you're away from them and you are beginning to live on your own. You finish college and become even more independent. They are still your family, but not in the same way. Now, you are independent and eager to start your own life and your own family. Being a young, single adult is such an adventure in so many ways and you don't have to consider how your life-changing decision is going to affect your spouse. But in a way, you feel like you don't have a family, or you are in between families if you will. Friends is in no way a model for living a fulfilled life, but it shows how friends can be your family. But even that is hard when you're not in one place for very long. I love where God has me right now and I know that He has so many incredile things planned for my life, but being in that in-between stage of life can be difficult. That's why ya' gotta have friends!

Sooooooo anyway, I went to church tonight and it was great as always, but my aunt's in LA and my grandmother didn't feel well enough to get out so I went alone. I stopped by Walmart on the way home to get some milk for grandmother and a few other things for my "World Travels" scrapbook, including rubber cement. I went to check out and the lady scanned the rubber cement and then the screen asked if the customer was over 18 and the she actually stared at me. I asked her if she wanted to see my I.D. and she said yes. I didn't mind being carded, because I understand that as long as that's happening, it's a good thing, but when I dug through my purse, I realized I didn't have it. I must have left it in my gym bag this morning so I told her that I didn't have it, but that I was 22. Then she glared at me and goes "When's your birthday?" "5-12-85".... She stared at me (rather rudely I felt) then scanned the rubber cement. "Don't you need your I.D. to drive?" Well there's a rule I didn't know had been put into place. I was like, lady what kind of 16 year old junkie goes to Walmart dressed in church clothes and buys milk, lettuce, persimmons, avacados, ribbons, and RUBBER CEMENT to sniff after she eats her salad? I hope I don't look like an underaged junkie when I go to church...

Jenna

Putting off sleep

Guess what Pastor Joe Putting preached on at church... tithing. It's interesting how God does that sometimes.

Photo Diary of being in Florida:

Grandmother shooting a pistol (just a pellet gun)

View from Aunt Sandy and Uncle Tommy's house

Aunt Sandy and Uncle Tommy riding their motorcycles to the flea market

Before dinner at the Chart House

Goodnight and sweet dreams

Jen

On an ending note

Just read Courtney's blog and this is basically what I was trying to say in the last part of my last post, but I think Courtney said it much more clearly! Thanks Court!

"To you it was shown that you might know that the Lord, He is God; there is no other besides Him." (Deuteronomy 4:35)

"...I have seen that God wants to do cool & supernatural things in our lives - just to show how cool HE is! He wants to do things that make us stand in awe of Him & praise Him because He gives good things to those who love Him! He wants to lead you to pray for something, then give it to you, just to prove that He is faithful. He wants to give you a vision of something, then bring it to pass, to show that He keeps His promises. He wants us to think about how COOL He is! I now pray for specific things that I feel led to pray for because I can then watch for God to work & recognize that He really is orchestrating the things I hand to Him (which should be everything, I remind myself)."

I hope this affects you!