The Real World: Tallahassee

Yeah, okay so I don't really have anything to blog about.
I am sitting here watching Full House and Fresh Prince of Bel-Air on Nick at Nite and I was just thinking how life is not like sitcoms. For instance:

Things that sitcoms have that real life doesn't:
1. All of your problems are solved in 30 minutes
2. Someone laughing even if your joke isn't funny
3. Sappy music during those really touching moments
4. Prepared lines so you always know exactly what to say
5. Commercial breaks
6. And my personal favorite...Will Smith

Sometimes I wish life could be like a sitcom where "everything gets neatly back by the end of the show" (according to Michael W. Smith) but other times it's good to know that life isn't already planned out for me. Of course, if I had to be on TV, there are a couple shows that I wouldn't mind being stuck in (can anyone say Tom Welling?).
Well, enough with my random ramblings. I'll let you all get back to real life.

I Heart This Weather!

Today I feel: in a good mood

Ever notice how good weather just puts people in a good mood. So far this week it has been gorgeous outside: sunny, warm, yet breezy. I love it. Good weather just makes me happy. I have had ample opportunity to enjoy it too. First of all, I sit outside on the front lawn at school everyday and after I'm done eating, I just sit back and enjoy the weather.
Also, yesterday in between my Exchangettes meeting and FCA, Katie, Jessica, Chelsea, Sarah Grace, and I went to Subway to get dinner and then we took it to Lake Ella to eat. I sat there looking out across the lake and laughing with my friends and just taking it all in. I mean, Lake Ella is already such a beautiful place and with the great weather yesterday, it was just perfect. Well, except for being attacked by limping zombie ducks, but that's a whole other story.
Today, Calyn and I went to Old Bainbridge Park to throw the frisbee around for a little while and enjoy being outside. I also got to hit some softballs, which is something that I just recently realized how much I missed now that I don't play. And, at PCBS tonight, we dragged the pink carpets out to Calyn's porch and had bible study out there.
God's creation is awesome. Even when it's nasty, rainy, and cold outside his creation is awesome, but it's nice to be able to see this side of nature too. Thank you God for awesome gorgeous weather!

A Hard Lesson to Learn

Today was a pretty good day. I've enjoyed being able to drink more than just water and I've fully recovered from the DVC incident :-).
Tonight I went to FCA for the first time in a long time. It was really good. This guy Jeff who is a senior at my school talked. I don't remember the verse reference, but it was basically about not giving into your sinful nature, but clothing yourself with God. He asked a really good question: If God and all he has to offer me is so much better than what the world has to offer, than why do I keep giving into sin. I know I definitely struggle with this. I mean, yeah, I know that God is enjoyable and that although sin is pleasureable, it eventually leads to destruction and all that stuff, but it's just hard to see. It's a lot easier for me to feel pleasure in listening to a dirty joke or something like that than reading through Leviticus. I know that I am supposed to get all of my pleasure from God, but I still keep sinning. Now, I'm sure part of this is because I don't always "clothe myself with God." It's hard for me to have a consistent quiet time. It's hard for me to get into the word. It's hard for me to stay awake while I'm praying. I'm sure if I can start clothing myself with God, it will be easier for me to see pleasure in God and reject sin. Of course, easier will never make it easy. This is one struggle that I think I will always, well, stuggle with.
Allright, well, off to do homework. Bah!

Why?

Today I feel: fine, but a little dissatisfied

Picture this: I haven't had anything but water to drink in 50 days because I gave it up for Lent. I wait until after church to have a DVC (Diet Vanilla Coke, for all you uncool people out there) with Calyn, becuase it will be both of our first ones in 50 days. Lori puts them in the freezer before church so they will be cold after church. Calyn and I run to the kitchen and get our DVCs. We are not sure if they are frozen, but decide to open them and find out. Bad choice. Mine literally explodes all over me. Now, this wouldn't have been so bad, except that I was wearing a brand new Easter outfit and after it exploded there was nothing left but ice in the can. Calyn somehow dodged the explosion of her can, but after she let it all come out in the garbage can, there was none left in her can either. We each got a drip from mine, but it was definitely not the same. I came home to find a two liter in my fridge that had been there since before I started Lent. It was flat. I did get to have some soda that my uncle brought over for Easter dinner, but I still haven't had good DVC. Such a dissappointment. Calyn said that this is God's sense of humor, and Todd said that there is something we can learn from this. All I've learned is not to put cans of soda in the freezer.
Well, Happy Easter everyone, I'm going to Calyn's to watch The Ten Commandments (old-school version) and I'm picking up some DVC on the way.

Just For Paul

Ya happy now?

Happy Birthday to Me!!!

Today I feel: happy happy happy happy happy

It's my birthday!!!! Only for 19 more minutes, but hey, I've had all day. I'm eighteen now!!!! Last night Calyn spent the night and we stayed up with my brothers until 2:00 in the morning and at midnight we were like "happy birthday me!" Today was my birthday party and it was tons of fun! The weather actually cleared up enough for us to go to Wakulla Springs and go swimming and jump off the high dive and play frisbee. It was sooooo much fun! Then we went back to my house and played games and just hang out. And Aaron gave me a dozen roses! What a sweetheart! I love that kid. My friends are so awesome. Thanks everyone for coming!
Now that I am eighteen, I think some changes are in order. For instance, I will now officially start acting more like an adult. What am I saying? I could never act like an adult all of the time. I love just acting stupid and goofing off with my friends, definitely one of my favorite hobbies.
So, my birthday was awesome, and I'm now eighteen, so I guess I'm an adult. According to Calyn I can do all kinds of great things now. I'm not sure how many of them I will actually go out and do now, but that's not important, the important thing is that I could.
Here are some pictures from my party:

Me, James and Aaron

Anna, Me, Tamara, Sarah, and Shannon

Playing the ha-ha game

Henry! Henry! The Pole Vaulting Fish!

Catching Up

Today I feel: behind

Now that I am all caught up on reading everybody's blogs, I don't really feel like writing my own. It is 1:30 on Thursday morning and I am very tired. These past couple days with my family has been kind of draining. I mean, it's cool to get to see everyone, but I got kind of tired of hearing things like "Oh, so your graduating this year," "What are your plans for college," and "No boyfriend yet?" Plus, I don't even really know who half of the people talking to me were.
Anyways, I'm back now and I certainly missed a lot in the blogging world. So many people have blogs now and I have a lot to catch up on after only three days. Well, I need to go to bed so I'll try to post again tomorrow, well, later on today. Only 22 hours and 22 minutes until my birthday.
Oh, and isn't Spring Break awesome? Staying up late...watching Boy Meets World...nothing better. And tomorrow/today Calyn is spending the night. Yay!

Jesus, Son of God

Today I feel: sad that the Easter Musical is over but I'm still in a pretty good mood

The Easter Musical is always so much fun. It's so sad that it's over. I mean we do all this work and I get to meet all these really awesome people and then in two days, it's gone. I mean, I just get so attached. It really was great though. It was called "Jesus, Son of God" and there were the "readers" (you guys did awesome!) and then there was the rest of us who did the crowd scenes and didn't have to talk. It was tons of fun, but now it is sadly all over.
Oh well, there's more fun to come. We are going to play ultimate frisbee at Rec ROCs today. Oh and James Barnett is coming to hang out with us, which is cool because I haven't seen him in a while except for when we saw him at the Jars of Clay concert and invited him to come to youth.
Okay, so I have to go do some cleaning and stuff since we're leaving for Leesburg (where my grandparents, or I guess now just my grandma lives) tomorrow.
Oh yeah, and only five days until my birthday!

In Memory of Poppi

Today I feel: the peace and comfort that only God can give


This is my grandpa at Christmas. I know he doesn't look real happy in the picture, but I didn't tell him that I was taking it. If I had, he would have had a really goofy smile on his face. He passed away at 6:00 this morning. I have taken it surprisingly well. I mean, I know at his funeral I am probably going to cry my eyes out, and my grandma wants us to sing, so I'm not sure how all that is going to work, but so far, I've been okay. I think that I mentally prepared myself and I've already cried so much about it, so I'm really just feeling peace right now. God has really just surrounded me with comfort and peace about the whole situation. I know that Poppi was ready to go home, and I'm just glad that he's not in pain anymore. If you guys could just keep praying for my grandma and all my family, that would be great. The service is on Tuesday, so we're leaving on Monday and coming back on Wednesday. I'm really going to miss him.
I'm sorry that I haven't blogged in a few days, but the whole blog thing was not letting me post anything. It was really weird, but I just saved my post from Tuesday and put it on now. So you should read it too. Anyways, it's working again.
Other than that, I went to the Jars of Clay concert on Thursday. It was awesome because I love Jars of Clay. I'm out of school for Spring Break, which is awesome. And I've been having tons of fun with the Easter Musical. That's basically it. Oh yeah, and only six days until my birthday!!!

The Good, the Bad, and the…Well, I Guess It’s Just the Good and the Bad

Today I feel: emotionally drained

Today has been a half good half bad day.
Bad: I am stressing out about school because I don't really care anymore about anything but my mom will be mad if I get a B just from slacking. So, we have an anatomy test tomorrow that we just started learning the material for on Monday. I have no idea what I'm doing and I haven't studied yet. In fact, I should be studying right now, but I have to vent first.
Good: I didn't have to go to sixth or seventh period today, so Mom and I went to lunch and then I got home at like 2:00. It was beautiful. Then, after I picked up the boys I went to Wal-Mart to get some stuff and drop off my film (NYC pictures from July are on the way. It's okay to be excited guys, don't hold it in).
Bad: My mom left for my grandparents' house again today. My grandfather is only expected to live another week at the most. This has been really hard for me to grasp. No one this close to me has ever died before, and it's all just so surreal right now. I don't know what I'm going to do, I've already cried my eyes out and he hasn't even died yet. I know he's ready to go home...I'm just not ready to let him go. I'm definitely going to miss him.
Good: We had bible study tonight and it was Leah's birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY LEAH! So, we celebrated with a cookie cake and we read out of Christina's really cool book called "Jesus Freaks." It's about martyrs; I think it would be really cool for my life/death to affect as many people as the people's lives in this book did. There are some intense stories in there, and we only scratched the surface. Anyways, we read and then played bible trivia until we had to go.
Bad: I have to go study now, since I am only procrastinating by doing this post. Not to mention that it is the second time I've had to type it since it's being really stupid and it lost it the first time. So, I need to go now.
Good: Only ten more days until my eighteenth birthday!!!

Two of my favorite guys: Aaron and Ian. You just can't help but love these guys. Thanks for being so awesome!

Something To Sing About

Today I feel: like singing

You ever just get in those moods where you feel like singing. Well, it's a good thing that I was in one of those moods today. We had district choral...festival...assessment...musical, I don't even know what they call it now. It's MPA, but I forget what it stands for. We always just called it festival. Anyways, I had to go sing for it at Chiles today. Thankfully, I love the pieces that we sang in Capital Singers and I think we did really well. If you've never sang on the Chiles stage, it's very dead. You can't hear anything but yourself and the piano, which is not always a good thing, you kind of feel like you're all alone in the world.
But anyways, I have just been singing all day, everywhere I went and I don't really know why. It's going to be a really good week, so I think I'm just in a great mood. Easter Musical practices have consumed my life as of late, but I get a break tomorrow, because I thought I had to go to one and I don't. So yippy! I get to go to bible study! And tomorrow is Leah's birthday! Tons of fun for everyone! Oooh, I just rhymed. Wow, easily amused.
Okay so another busy but fun week for Jenna. I see very little sleep in my future...

Eleven days until my birthday!

There Really Aren't Enough Hours In the Day

Today I feel: Worn out

I've had such a busy week. But it's been really fun. I went and saw my cousin in his school play Friday night. They did Cinderella and he was the herald. He was really good, he even had a solo. Yea Jordan! Then on Saturday I got to sleep in until noon, which was wonderful. Then after Easter Musical practice me and some friends went and saw The Incredibles. It was so cute. I definitely reccomend it.
And then came today, another busy Sunday. In Sunday School the guy from this conference that I didn't go to on Saturday spoke. He was really good and he made me think about some stuff for sure. It was really geared more to parents, but I still got something out of it. I want to go to their summer camp, but my summer is booked pretty much solid at the moment, so maybe next year. I stayed after church and me and Calyn got free Sonny's from the orchestra people, since they were so nice to share with us. We finished up the set and then had drama practice at 3:30. Everything went well, and when it came down to the real thing, everyone remembered their lines and I don't think any of the townspeople distracted from the main plot, so it was all good. I'm very proud of our drama team.
And that was basically my weekend. My mom went to visit my grandparents on Saturday, and my grandpa is not doing well again. My mom said that he had taken a rapid decline and they had to move him out of the nursing home and back into the hospital. Basically, we could lose him any time. If you all could just pray with me for God's will in the situation. I don't want my Poppi to be uncomfortable, but I am going to miss him so much. Thanks for your prayers.
On a lighter note, only 12 more days until my birthday!!! Hapiness!

Productivity=Very Yes

(that's for all you Strong Bad fans out there...)

Today I feel: like we got sooo much accomplished with our drama

Today was great. School was school, nothin much to say about that. Then, we had a "dress" rehersal for our A.C.T.S. drama, but we didn't get our costumes yet. I think we're gonna be all right. Everyone did well on their parts, and we replaced our PVC house that was caving in and definitely not going to work with a tent/shade thingy. After practice, we finished up the set (well, almost finished) and we got to make paper mache pottery and Diane's vase was the coolest ever (although my bowl did come in at a very close second :-)). It all finally came together and it looks awesome! I'm so excited, and I think everyone else is starting to get excited too. I can't wait. Actually, I can't wait until like weeks 5 and 6, because they are the real action-packed parts. Week 1 is just kind of introducing the characters and stuff. I hope that we do good on Sunday. Pray for us ya'll.
And also today, Calyn came back from Birmingham! Yea! All of my college friends that are on Spring Break right now are going to Wakulla Springs tomorrow and I am not very happy about that. I want to go. Stupid school. Ahhh, well, I will overcome! Hehe. Have fun guys. Make sure you say hi to Henry! Henry! Henry! for me. And Calyn, I want you to try a double double whipless mocha halfcaf for me (I love Teen Girl Squad!)
Okay, I really need to go to be. I was doing good at going to bed at a decent hour, but I haven't done so well the past two days...shame, shame, I know. But guess what? Tomorrow's Friday! And only 15 more days until my 18th birthday!

And the Countdown Begins

Today I feel: Excited! I figured out the picture thingy! Yea!!!


(This is Me, Janelle, and Nicole at the SLC)

Okay, so I was gonna start the official countdown to my 18th birthday yesterday because yesterday was 18 days until my 18th birthday. But, my tiredness overcame me and I went to bed without blogging. So, 17 days until my 18th birthday!!!!
Nothing all that interesting has happened lately. Kind of a same old, same old type of deal. I'm getting really tired of school and I'm pretty sure that after Spring Break I'm going to be the most useless creature on the planet. I mean, I've got accepted to FSU, I've secured my 100% scholarship, it's kind of pointless to still be at school. But, only 7 more school days until Spring Break. I can't wait.
The set is slowly but surely coming along. We still have a lot to do before Sunday though. I hope we can get it all done. Calyn being out of town this week kind of ruined my plans for getting any work done on it.
Okay, so all is well in Tally town. And I am off to bed. I've actually been getting a decent amount of sleep lately.

Student Life Conference!

Aren't we cute? (I'm the one on the bottom, second from the right).

I got back from the Student Life Conference yesterday. It was so much fun. David Nasser was the speaker and I loved him. He is so funny and all of his messages are just so enjoyable. I hope I get to hear him again soon. My favorite line that he said was when he was talking about when he first got invited to go to church and he didn't want to, but then the guy inviting him named five of the hottest girls from their school that were going to be there and so he said that he was like "Here I am to worship!" (singing the song as he strikes a pose). It's probably funnier in person, you'll have to get me to do an impression for you if you weren't there.
The band, Shane & Shane, were awesome too. I had heard a few of their songs before the trip, but I like them even more now that I've had them as worship leaders. My daddy bought me their new CD :-). The drama was, of course, amazing. Calyn had made it sound like it wasn't that great, and sure, some of the new people are definitely not as good as the AT2AP people from back in the day, but I really like it when they do a drama that's a continuing story instead of different semi-random things that all relate to the topic but are not at all the same story. I really want to try out for AT2AP in two years when I'll be 19 and able to. I've always wanted to do something like that and it would be tons of fun and I would be using my talents for the Lord.
Goodnight and God bless!

"Busy, Busy, Dreadfully Busy. More Than a Bumblebee More Than an Ant."

That was a throwback to Veggie Tales for all of you who didn't catch it.
Today I feel: Busy

Wow, what I busy day. I woke up and went to school (back to the grind again), then after school I took Matt to his dad's house, picked up my little brothers (their track practice was cancelled so that created some more time), rushed over to my house, worked on my economics commercial project with Katie, took Brandon to piano lessons, made dinner, took Rhian out for ice cream for her birthday (it was on Monday), came home and finished my economics project on the computer, fought with my video camera because it wasn't cooperating with me or the computer, finished downloading my pictures to the computer and uploading them to the internet, did a load of laundry, packed for Student Life Conference tomorrow, and now I am sitting here writing in my blog. Wow, that was a mouthful. Well, technically, since I didn't say it, it couldn't be a mouthful. So I guess it's a handful or something. You get the idea. So yeah, although it was busy and I haven't had a moment to just sit and relax all day, it was a fun day.
Tomorrow, as I mentioned earlier, I am leaving with my youth group for the Student Life Conference. I won't be back until Saturday, so I guess all of my loyal readers will have to go a few days without something from me. I am very excited, because I always learn a lot from the conference, and it's tons of fun.
Since I am very tired, I will be leaving now. But I am going to try to put at least one picture up.

This Just In...

Today I feel: Frustrated and extremely extatic all at the same time.

Okay, first thing's first. I got accepted to FSU!!! They finally sent me an e-mail today telling me that I got in. I should get a letter and a packet in the mail any day now. I am sooooo happy. It's not like I really thought that I wouldn't get in, it's just that I wanted to know. I wanted some security. Thank you, God.
Now for the frustrating part of my afternoon. I have spent countless hours on my computer trying to transfer my pictures from my camera to my computer, and then to a disc. The stupid thing has been slow and frustrating all afternoon and on into the evening. I finally got it to do what I wanted it to do but I'm still having some issues getting the pictures published to the internet so I can share them with you guys. And, to make matters worse, I still have to go do the dishes, and it's almost midnight.
Okay, since I'm just complaining and that's all I have to say, I'll blog at ya'll later. (Wow, that was corny.)

Read All Labels Before Using

Today I feel: Confused

It was like Monday and Friday, but it was Tuesday. I didn't have to go to school yesterday and I don't have to go to school tomorrow (well, I'm gonna go to last period, but that's only from 2 to 3, so it doesn't really count.) so today felt like Monday and Friday all in one. Except, we had PCBS, fun as always. We read Acts chapter 10. I'm glad that we are reading in Acts at the same time that Calyn and I are writing a drama from Acts. It's nice to follow the stories and see what happens after our skit ends.
Okay so dumb thing I did for the day: We were hanging out in Calyn's kitchen sometime during PCBS and there was a bottle of Bath and Body Works stuff on the kitchen counter (by the phone, not the sink. Remember that.). I just assumed that it was some new lotion and, me having dry hands, I put some on. Mistake number one. As we walked back towards Calyn's room, I noticed that it wasn't rubbing in very well. I was asking everyone if they wanted some, but Calyn just told me to rub it on my arms and legs too. So I did. Mistake number two. I thought that it was rubbed in enough, but now I just felt sticky. This was not the type of lotion I was used to. So then Calyn, in all her brilliant glory says, "Hey Jenna, do you think maybe it was soap." It all made sense all of a sudden. So yes, it was soap and so I went into the bathroom to wash it off of my hands and arms. Being that I was wearing jeans and I was not about to take a bath in Calyn's sink, it is still currently on my legs. Well good news guys: my arms and hands are clean now!
Needless to say, it was a very humorous ending to a fun day, even though I did have to go to school. I also feel like we got a lot accomplished on the set today. We finished sponge painting (blah!) the papers and Calyn fixed up the sheet we are going to use for the roof and started making a net. Exciting stuff. It will all come together soon. I hope...

"Two!"

Today I feel: like I need to learn how to talk all over again

Quote o' the day: "Is did you found them?" -Jenna Myrick
Wow, what a day. I had a lot of trouble talking today for some reason. Maybe it was because I didn't go to school. No, I didn't skip, well, I sorta did. The ninth and tenth graders had FCAT in the morning and the eleventh and twelfth graders didn't have to come to school until 1:00, but I just didn't go at all. So, after I went and picked the boys up from school, Brandon, Calyn, and I went down to the church to work on the set some more. This is where my speech impediment kicked in.
First, Calyn and I were looking through the craft closet to find some paintbrushes and when she said, "Ooooh!" I was like, "Is did you found them?" (Translation: "Did you find them?" or "Is that them?"). Then later Brandon opened his coke and said, "All right! Free 1-liter Coke product!" So, I yelled out, "Two!" I meant to say "Cool!" but Brandon's interpretation of my slip-up was that I took what was weird about the sentence and yelled out the right word. He said it would have been like if I had said, "This puppy is cute or furry." and he yelled out, "And!" Anyways, we cracked up laughing about both of those situations for quite some time.
Oh, and some great news. Brandon and I came up with a new name for our drama team. The old one was, well...old and no one ever really liked it all that much because we felt that it didn't really apply directly to drama. So, we were thinking of new ones on Sunday afternoon and the first one that Brandon came up with was D-T-double M-S-double T which stands for "Doesn't This Make More Sense Than Todd." (Todd is our youth pastor.) Of course, he was kidding and so after laughing for a while we got serious again a decided on "The TREE." TREE stands for everything that our dramas are about: Truth, Relevance, Explanation, and Encouragement. It's also pretty cool because the cross that Jesus died on is sometimes referred to as the tree and there is the tree of knowledge and other tree-related references.
Well, unfortunately, I do have to go to school tomorrow, because during the FCAT time, I have to take a practice AP English exam (sad day). But, Wednesday, I get another day off (happy day!).