happy birthday

Friday was this crazy girl's 15th Birthday!

I have the spunkiest, most talented, funniest little sister around. Since she is almost 7 years younger than me, I have been able to watch her grow up. It has been the best kind of treat. She is my best friend who puts up with me annoying her mercilessly, she always keeps me laughing - seriously this girl's sense of humor is like none other, she is incredibly smart, is the biggest social butterfly I know - her social life is literally 8x busier than mine, is really mature and wise, and is the most talented person I have ever met. Don't believe me? Watch this: 

http://www.twitvid.com/RII0Q

Carly was Annie in her musical theatre company's production and from what I heard (unfortunately I wasn't able to go) was unbelievably incredible. I knew she would be, she's been singing ever since she could talk. When she was three years old we were getting our hair cut and she had the whole salon silent (over 15 hair cutting stations) while she performed the song "Part of Your World" from The Little Mermaid.

I love Carly so much and am so grateful to have her as my sister and best friend. Happy Birthday! 

**I'm just glad it's her 15th birthday so I don't have to worry about dating and driving just yet. Phew! 

something disturbing.

This guy fits into my clothes. 

He enjoyed it, I laughed but was crying on the inside and secretly contemplating fasting for a month. 

I did have fun seeing his inner model come out during the photo shoot. 

America's Next Top Model, watch out. Daddy Long Legs is coming for you. 

My View.

This has been my view all week.

Sitting on my bed, or chair, or library desk, staring at my computer.
I guess my view has never really been my hair, unless I had some crazy Spide-y vision. But this has also been my hair all week. On the top of my head. I've only put heat on my hair twice in the past week and a half. Not because I'm trying to keep it healthy or anything, nope, not at all. Just because I've been busy and lazy.

While we're giving out beauty points, in the past week and a half I have gone 3 days without wearing an ounce of make up, 2 wearing only mascara. 

In case you were wondering or worried, I shower every day. Although I may not be cute, I'm always clean. 

I decided to get dressed today so that at least these cute rays of sunshine would be part of my view.

Disregard the messy dresser, my room is actually much more clean than this picture lets on.

Happy Midterms! 

Art Therapy

When I was in London, I learned that I absolutely love art. Last Friday, I learned that while I love to look at art, I am certainly no good at making it. 

This past weekend, my roommate Nicole and I decided to follow through with the artistic plans we had been dreaming up for months. We went to the dollar store to buy a brush set and Walmart for the paint and canvases (3 canvases for only 6 dollars!). The entire night only cost each of us a $12.03!

 I promise Nicole wasn't posing for this, she's just that darling all the time.

 My paintings
excuse the hair on top of my head and the Zermatt shirt my dad didn't want. At least I have the excuse I was painting, sure didn't have that on my Cafe Rio excursion the next night. woops! 

Our finished products.

These were very amateur, to say the least, but it made for such a fun night. We got in old clothes, turned on Sleepless in Seattle and went wild with a little art therapy. I definitely recommend it. 

Confession

Oftentimes, I only wear my glasses to hide the fact that I'm not wearing makeup.

Like when it's Saturday night, you haven't done your hair or makeup all day, but you really want a Cafe Rio taco. 

Just slides those babies over your ears and you're good to go. Meet my Saturday night.

Yes, I am aware that this is a Myspace shot. I just thought it enhanced the sexy librarian vibe, no? No.
I promise they are actually prescription glasses and I'm not going hipster on you.
Hope your Saturday night was as relaxing as mine.

Oh my gosh, we're back again

***props to all who caught the Backstreet Boys reference in the title.

So January always seems to be about New Year's Resolutions, lucky for me, I found a way to knock out a couple of my resolutions in one shot.

Enter: the blog.

I started this blog when I went on a study abroad to London in Fall 2010, and it hasn't been touched since. Maybe because it pained me a little to take down the last remnants of London, maybe I was a little lazy, maybe I felt that my life wasn't interesting enough. Well, things are changing, friends. I'm turning my old blog into a scrap book and trying to be a little less lazy (nevermind that I am in sweats and no makeup at 6:00 on a Saturday night). As for the third, my life hasn't become much more interesting, so sorry if this blog becomes a little mundane.

How is this blog going to help me with my resolutions you ask? Considering the fact that I am horrible at taking pictures, since coming home from London I have taken 8 pictures on my camera - 2 were blurry, 3 dark, I decided I need to do better at documenting my life through pictures. And we all know long blog posts without pictures can be hard to read. - resolution number 1: check.

Side note: speaking of resolutions, look how cute my New Year's date is.

Resolution #2: write in my journal. Thank you blurb.com for making it so easy to print out your blog. check.

Resolution #3: keep my room clean. I decided to take before and after pictures of my messy room, thereby forcing me to clean it. Don't worry, logging on to find pictures of Jenna's cluttered and unkempt bedroom wont be a daily ritual, it just jump started the whole process.

Before:

 I may or may not have tidied up my room just a bit before this picture. Mama will be sad to see this but at least it means I'm busy living, right? 

After:

Too bad you can't see the vacuum lines in this picture. Actually, you don't want to see them because I've never been able to get them to be perfect triangles, but lines are on the floor, perfect or not.

Unfortunately, this blog wont help me with my posture because I don't think you want to see cell phone pictures of each time I slump throughout the day. And it certainly won't help me be better at budgeting my money because you definitely do not want to see the meager amount of money I make as a TA. However, you may enjoy a good laugh at how I spend it: Burger King diet coke runs, new shoes that I don't even have room for in my closet, food that I let expire.

VERB-ing.

Today, as I was wearing shorts and sandals, was greeted with more sunshine than I had seen in 3 months in England, and hopped into my car to drive on the right side of the road, London seemed thousands of miles away; I'm 8 time zones apart, have my own room, don't need a converter to use my electronics, and have a closet that is 12 times bigger. Yet, as cliche as this may be, London, to me, is ever-present. You see, I went away to London hoping it would be a good experience, putting all of my eggs into the "London basket," banking on the fact that it would give me the friends, perspective, and rejuvenation I was searching for, it did, and so much more.

Before we left on our Thanksgiving trip, Sister Seely shared a quote to help us enjoy our journey. She said, "With every trip we go on, we must ask ourselves not just what our favorite thing was or what we enjoyed, but 'how has this journey changed me?' If our travels and journeys don't change us, then they are for naught." I have contemplated that a lot these past few weeks.

As the title to every blog post has been a verb, I have done things in London.


I have explored castles, I have hiked hills to see views of rolling green, I have written tens of papers, I have conquered the Tube, I have learned to teach by the Spirit, I have pulled many late nights and a few all-nighters, I have laughed more than I ever have, I have had my eyes and mind opened to new subjects, I have gained an even greater love for art, I have greatly improved my British accent, I have become an even greater ice cream connoisseur, I am now an English history buff, I have made the best friends I could ask for, I found myself. 

Somewhere along the journey of exploring, creating, enjoying, giggling, learning, searching, I was introduced to my new, "grown up" self. Conquering a huge city, being completely out of my element, forced me to figure out who I am and what I was going to do when I was stripped of all normalcy. It was on this journey that I gained a lot confidence as I was forced to handle myself in somewhat precarious or questionable circumstances. On this journey, I gained a lot of self-respect as I made my own decisions regarding my traveling, safety, time management, and thoughts. On this journey, I became more aware and considerate of others as I learned how to live in a small space with 40 other people and got to interact with such kind people everyday.On this journey, my faith was strengthened as I learned from the incredible examples of my teachers, friends, and members of my ward. On this journey, my testimony was questioned and strengthened as I was forced to rely on the Spirit and often just opened my mouth and let words come out. On this journey, I was reintroduced to beauty and learned how to recognize it. On this journey, I became more adventurous.  On this journey, I met the greatest friends that made it so easy to laugh, share, and just be me. The experiences I had on this journey to London helped me see what I want in life, the person I want to become, gave me a love and zeal for life and experience like I have never had before and the confidence to go out and grab life. Although I leave for Provo in the morning (just 5 hours to be exact.. yikes!), and new girls are set to take my place at 27 Palace Court, London will forever be mine. I am so grateful to have had this incredible opportunity, for the things it has introduced me to, and for the person I have become as a result.

Long live the Queen!