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!

holiday-ing [2].

On Friday of Thanksgiving break we took a train to Amsterdam. After getting delayed for an hour due to a fire at the airport, we made it to Amsterdam. Amsterdam is such an incredible city. They call it the "Venice of the North." There are over a thousand bridges and hundreds of canals... Amsterdam charmed me.

One of the cutest things about this city is that everyone rides bikes. There is no way you can even comprehend how many bikes there are until you see the parking garages full of bikes and are almost hit by a bike every time you cross the street.

We went to the cutest flower market that was right on a canal. I bought 40 tulip bulbs that aren't legal to import into the US (shhhh) so I am having a friend ship them home... but they are beautiful! I met the cutest Dutch man (below), he taught me how to say a few Dutch words, gave me a euro off my price, and kissed me on both cheeks. 

We went to the Anne Frank House and saw street performers at Dam Square:

I started re-reading the Diary of Anne Frank in preparation for this trip, and it made the experience so much better. Visiting the Anne Frank House was one of my favorite things about the trip and gave me so much more respect for her family and those who fought in WW2 to stop the Holocaust.

Of course we ate Dutch Pancakes:

Devri, Brianna, Caroline, and I ordered a pancake each and shared. We had one chicken and cheese, one bacon and cheese, one apple and banana, and one with cinnamon ice cream.

I wanted to make sure that we conquered all 4 of them, but unfortunately the other girls got full pretty quick. I decided to bring up the rear and finished them off... it was a little painful but worth it. They were so delicious and victory looked sweet when we saw 4 empty plates!

We may or may not have gone back for round two Saturday morning. 

We also went to the Van Gogh Museum and saw tons of wooden shoes:

The Van Gogh Museum is my favorite museum I have ever been to. It starts out showing the artists that influenced Van Gogh, follows his paintings chronologically through the cities in which he painted, and ends with his contemporaries. Absolutely beautiful and very informative.

We went to the IAMSTERDAM sign:

One of my favorite spots was a little Christmas market. Of course I loved the lights and ice skating rinks, but if I am being completely honest... I loved it for the olibollens. They are heaven in a fried roll of dough topped with powdered sugar. Absolutely incredible! A great way to end the trip and warm us up... we may or may not have had two...

Although some people find Amsterdam to be a little obscene, we were lucky enough to not run into anything of the sort. I absolutely loved Amsterdam. It is completely different than any place I have ever visited. I was absolutely charmed by the cute dutch architecture, the beautiful canals and bridges, the plethora of friendly English speakers, and the vibrancy of the culture. 

More to come!

holiday-ing.

Over Thanksgiving break we were able to travel wherever we would like for "holiday." Natalie, Brianna, Caroline, Jordan, Molly, Grace, Devri, and I chose to go to Brussels and Amsterdam. Other girls in our program were in Scotland, Ireland, Spain, Italy, and the Czech Republic. It was such an amazing trip! We saw so much in those 4 days... and crammed so much into our tiny backpacks! 

Just before we left on our trip!

On the Eurostar to Brussels. We took the ferry to France in September so I was really excited to get to take the chunnel. It is so nice and easy! I'm a fan. 

Brussels Grand Palace Market put on a light show for Christmas, it was sooo cool! The Grand Palace Market is one of my favorite spots in Brussels, the architecture is incredible. 

Of course the first thing we ate, even before dinner, was a Belgian waffle. They are incredible. I don't think I can ever have another waffle again after this trip, they just won't live up to the real deal. I had 4 in the matter of 1 night and 1 day. They are that good. Strawberries with whip cream and sugar is my favorite!

We were in Brussels all day Thursday and started exploring early that morning...

A cathedral we ran into and the European commission building. 

I never would have thought that I would grow to love going into churches, but Dr. Seely has converted us into "sacred space lovers." Even on our vacations away from our professors we hit all the major churches and analyzed the architecture and the way it represents sacred space. nerds. thanks Dr. Seely.

We walked through Brussels' main park and saw their arc. The park was gorgeous and so was the arc. I loved how the Belgium flag was hung in the middle archway. 

We went into the museum at the end of the park and went through the coolest and photography exhibit. It was of the best photographs of world events for 2010 and it was very eye-opening. 

We also went to the Atomium, which is essentially Brussels' Eiffel Tower. It was built for the World Exhibition of 1958. The theme of that exhibition was modernism... we can't get away from our school work here! of course we had to report back to our Great War and Modernism teacher Dr. Tate.

Inside the Atomium

Throwing up the Trekkie sign in the futuristic Atomium.

Brussels was such a blast! It is such a cute little town. One of the things that made it really fun was that my dad served there for 6 months of his mission, I loved picturing my little dad riding his bike around the town in a suit. I went with the best girls and just had an absolute blast. We celebrated Thanksgiving over steak and fries, shared what we were thankful for, and went to a Mozart concert at a cathedral, it was perfect.

And of course, we goofed off a ton!

Just reenacting a wedding scene on the steps of the cathedral and having fun in the metro.

Playing in the park.

Brother Seely, my director, touches everything everywhere he goes... especially if there is a do not touch sign. His reasoning is pretty awesome, "how many people can say they have touched a Roman wall, the grave of King Henry the 7th, or Shakespeare's childhood home?" Well now thanks to Brother Seely, I can answer yes to all of the above and much more. I've taken this touching thing to heart... a worker at Westminster Abbey even asked us what we were doing because he saw us bending down to touch the graves of all of our favorites in Poet's Corner. Well here I'm just giving the booty of this guy a little touch haha.

More to come (Amsterdam tomorrow)!

wale-watching.

Our trip to Wales was the last over night trip we had together :( (yes, it took me about 1 month to post about it). It was super quick but still really fun. We coached over there and stopped at a few fun things along the way, spent the night in Cardiff, and stopped at church history sites on the way home. 

My favorite thing we did in Wales was going to the Big Pit Coal Mine

Wales is a tiny country, only about 6 million, but just under half of us on the program are Welsh! Got to love Mormon connections. A lot of Welsh people joined the church during the Apostolic Mission of the church in 1838-1841 (just got tested on that.. don't worry, I don't just know random church history statistics). Many of them worked in coal mines so we went to take a look at what they were like.

Most of the people were so poor that they couldn't afford a candle for their children that worked in the mine. Kids as young as 6 had to work in the mines :(. They would leave 6 days a week before sunrise and got home after sunset so they never saw the light.

We also went to Wales World, a museum about Welsh Life:

The second day of the trip was our family history trip. We went to a lot of different sites including the Benbow Farm: 

Hundreds of early Saints were baptized here.

Malvern Hill Beacon: 

Wilford Woodruff dedicated the potteries (this area of England) on this hill. It was the windiest place I have ever been.

Gadfield Elms Chapel:

This is the oldest Mormon meetinghouse. 

We had a little program and sang hymns in the chapel, it was so great. 

Wales was great, glad to add another country to my list! Don't know if I would go back but I am sure glad I went.

More to come!

celebrating.

Happy Christmas from London!

Oxford and Regent Street are lit up, there is a Christmas tree and Menorah in Trafalgar Square, Hyde Park Corner turned into Winter Wonderland, Mariah Carey's Holiday CD is on repeat on my ipod, Christmas shoppers crowd the streets, and it even snowed! Christmastime is definitely here, and I couldn't be more excited about it all! 

More to come!