I Love to Laugh!

Today has been a great day, although I have once again failed to get into bed at a decent time (decent=10:30 at the latest).
I have laughed so much today. I would sit here and type out all of the funny stories of the funny things that have happened, but I have a feeling that no one but me would find them funny. They are a lot of "ya had to be there" stories, and I'm pretty sure that I wouldn't do them justice in type. Still, I have had such a funny day. I love laughing. It just makes me feel good. Of course now my throat hurts, but still, it was great.
Well, I'm gonna go so I can at least be in bed before I ususally am. Before midnight's not bad, right?
And to end on a good note: only 14 more days of school left. Actually, less for me because of AP tests and other stuff. Woo-hoo! I'm almost there!

The Rose

I've decided that I'm addicted to blogs. I start reading and I just can't stop. Maybe it's just because I like to see what's going on in everyone's life and leaving comments for ya'll. I've lost a lot of sleep because of blogging. Oh well. It's worth it.
Sunday we had a party for the new Melodears. I was there for a while but then I had to leave for TREE drama practice at 4. But my "little sister" didn't get there until 4:30, so I went back at 5 for the gift giving, cake, and singing of our theme song (which by the way is "The Rose" which is what the Happy Hands Club does in Napoleon Dynamite, but we had it first, we go back like 8 years), and then left again to go back to church. The party was really fun, I think that the new group is going to be really good. Too bad I won't be there.
We did the last installment in the ACTS drama on Sunday. It went surprisingly well except for us forgetting to do the scene change at the right time and Aaron accidentally calling me Rhoda instead of Susana. Oh well, it was still good. Thanks to everyone who helped and put so much effort into the whole thing. I think it paid off.
Sunday night I spent the night with Kelley so we could make T-shirts for our Melodear little sisters. Then we got up really early Monday morning and kidnapped our sisters, dressed them up all cute and then we all met at Bruegger's Bagels for breakfast. Then we took them to school and we sang them our theme song as we stood around the lion statue in the lobby holding hands in a circle. So many traditions. It's awesome to be a part of something so special. Once a Melo, always a Melo. It's kinda like a sorority. It's so much fun and even though we've had a lot of drama this year, I'm glad I was able to be a part of it.
So that was Sunday and Monday. I'll have to tell you about bible study tomorrow because it's late and I've spent way too much time on this already.

"The Rose"
Some say love it is a river
That drowns the tender reed
Some say love it is a razor
That leaves your soul to bleed
Some say love it is a hunger
An endless aching need
I say love it is a flower
And you its only seed

It's the heart afraid of breaking
That never learns to dance
It's the dream afraid of waking
That never takes the chance
It's the one who won't be taken
Who cannot seem to give
And the soul afraid of dying
That never learns to live

When the night has been too lonely
And the road has been too long
And you think that love is only
For the lucky and the strong
Just remember in the winter
Far beneath the bitter snows
Lies the seed that with the sun's love
In the spring becomes the rose

Fun With Gum

I know that title sounds stupid but I'll explain...eventually.
I had a pretty awesome day. I had really good intentions to wake up early-ish this morning and go bike riding, but I didn't end up waking up so early and then we weren't sure if it was going to rain, so my dad didn't really want me to go. So, instead I got some stuff done that needed to be done and then I went to Ian's birthday party.
Wow, it was so much fun. We played air hockey for a while and then we watched this awesome movie that Ethan, Jenny, Ian, Christina, and Ben made. It was "scary" but it was also really funny (spontaneous combustion and all). We played some frisbee and then went back inside and had cake. A lot of people left so then me and Ian and Nicole all put so much gum in our mouths so we could try to blow big bubbles. Ian must've had like ten or twelve pieces in his mouth and me and Nicole each had like six or seven. We tried so hard to get just one picture of us all with big bubbles. We were laughing sooooo hard that we were like drooling because we had so much gum in our mouths. I don't think I've laughed that hard in quite some time. It was tons of fun. So the title...the bag of Dubble Bubble gum said "FUN WITH GUM" on it and I read it and we were like "What the heck?" So, yeah, it was just really funny. And Ian, you and your siblings have inspired Brandon and I to get working on our movie again. I only hope for it to be as good as ya'lls.
As if the night wasn't complete enough, on the way back to civilization (sorry Ian but it takes a road trip to get to your house) Nicole and I got lost. We missed a turn and kept going, thought we knew where we were, realized we didn't really, got really excited when we saw a sign for I-10 so we turned that way, and then realized we had made a big rectangle that took us ten miles out of our way. We eventually made it back to I-10 and after thanking God several times we finally got to my house. It was a little creepy because it was really dark and we couldn't really tell where we were going and we were never really sure if we were going the right way or not. But, we made it back alive and that's all that really matters, right?


Us cracking up laughing...this is such a great picture


Ian and I with our bubbles. Look how huge Ian's is!


Ian and Nicole. Why is Ian so good at this?


Us finally able to take a picture of our bubbles all together.

I'm Not at School!

Today I feel: Oh so happy!

It's a Friday at 12:02 pm and I am not at school. Ha! Today was our senior trip to GradBash, but I didn't go, so my mom said I didn't have to go to school because all of my classes would be empty and we would do nothing and it would be a waste of time. So, here I am. I got to sleep in and now I'm going to get some stuff done. Oh, and I'm so excited because later Kelley and I are going shopping for presents for our Melodears little sisters (girls who are going to be in Melodears next year). I can't wait!
Last night I went to the Steven Curtis Chapman, Casting Crowns, and Chris Tomlin concert. It was awesome. Definitely one of the best concerts I've ever been to. I was going to work at it selling merchandise like I did for the Third Day concert, but then Katie bought me a ticket and I was like "Oh, I didn't ask you to buy me a ticket. I can't pay for it." and she was like "You don't have to pay for it. I bought it for you." So I was very happy and I thanked her so very much because it was so great. Ooooh, and I got a T-shirt for $5. How awesome is that? It's the blue one with the hippie van that says "All Things New Tour 2005."
Okay, well, I'm going to go be productive now. I hope to see you all at the youth garage sale tomorrow.

I Love My Fellow Melos!

Today I feel: loved

Tonight was our Melodears Senior Dinner. Every year, the Juniors in Melodears have a dinner for the Seniors. This year, there are only three juniors and there are twelve seniors, so it was no small task for them. We all dressed up really nice and then they made us a really good dinner and the table was decorated all pretty. We ate and girl-talked about boys and prom (this is the advantage of having an all girl group) and laughed. After dinner the juniors sang us a little medley that they wrote to the tunes of several songs that we sang in Melos this year. It was so cute. The whole thing was so much fun. I love those girls. It's weird how close we've gotten in just a school year. I mean, yeah, I've known some of the girls since eighth and ninth grade, but I just really met some of them this year. Melodears will definitely be one thing I will miss about Leon.

Melodears

Am I Crazy? (Don't Answer That...)

Today I feel: overwhelmed

I still have so much to do this week but I only have to be at school for three days out of the five, so that helps.
Bible study was really good tonight. We went to the mall and had our bible study there (minus the pink carpets). First we just started talking about hell and how we know it's real. Then we were talking about other religions and why anyone would want to believe in anything but Christianity. Then I started thinking...if you didn't believe what you believe about Christianity, it would sound pretty crazy. I mean, for instance, yesterday when we went on that field trip I was driving and we get in my van and I start it up and the radio comes on. This girl Olivia is like "What are we listening to?" and I'm like "Christian music" and she just says "Oh." So after there is a break in the conversation, we are all sitting in silence other than the radio playing and I just start listening to the words of the song and, I don't remember exactly what song it was, but I started wondering what everyone else in my van was thinking, because I knew that most of them weren't Christians. I mean think about it. The words to most of the songs on 88.1 would sound like pretty crazy ideas if you didn't grow up hearing and believing it. After that, every song that came on I paid attention to the words more than I ever had before and I was just praying that God would speak to the hearts of the girls in my van. It's weird to think that there are people out there who don't believe what we do, but just think if there was like a Mormon radio station or a Jehovah's Witness radio station that played songs about what they believe. Wouldn't we, as Christians, just wonder what the heck they are talking about? I know I would. So, the lesson I took away from that experience is that not everyone believes what I do and, in fact, they probably think that some of what I believe is crazy. So, if they are ever going to believe it too, they need it explained to them. I can't just assume that everyone knows the story of David and Goliath or something. I've got to put it in words they understand. Although at first I was nervous about the situation, I was eventually glad for the opportunity to share that music with them. If they think I weird because of it, oh well.

Since Everyone Else Did It

My Linguistic Profile:

70% General American English

20% Yankee

5% Dixie

5% Upper Midwestern

0% Midwestern

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

I know, I know, "If everyone else jumped off a bridge, would you do it too?" but I just felt like doing it. It looked interesting. And yes, i probably would jump off the bridge. It sounds like fun.

I Wish Every School Day Could Be Like Today

Okay, it's late so I've got to go fast. Actually it's not as late as when I normally begin doing this, but I was hoping to be in bed earlier tonight. Wow, that was weird, I just heard Chris talk in his sleep again. He says some pretty random stuff like, "What did you say you were going to do?" but I couldn't understand him this time.
Today was pretty awesome. Melodears took a field trip with some of the other Leon singing groups to sing at some middle schools in the area. We only had to go to first period and then we were excused for the rest of the day. First we went to Cobb where my brothers were supposed to come see me but neither of them could get out of class. Then we went to Fairview. I had never been there before, but it's pretty nice, except for the fact that the Cafeteria where we were singing smelled like fishsticks the entire time we were there. (We lucked out and went right before lunch, oh goody!) Then we went to the mall and had--get this--an hour and a half for lunch. I could hear the Hallelujah Chorus. It was beautiful. I think we should extend our normal school lunch by an hour and do that every day. After lunch we went to Raa, which I had also never been inside. So, we made our way around town and promoted Leon's music program to the upcoming ninth graders. During lunch we were thinking of all of the other schools that we need to visit and we decided that we should just take this whole week to do that.
I also finished writing week 6 of our ACTS drama today. It's really weird that this is the last week of it. We've been working on it so long and put so much into it, I think I'm gonna miss it when it's gone. Kind of like the Easter Musical. Thanks so much to everyone who contributed anything to the drama, whether acting in it or helping with lights and sound, or donating a canoe :-). And a BIG shoutout to Calyn, the best, most dedicated, most awesomest, most coolest, director and person ever! We never could have pulled this off without you Calyn! I love you!
Okay, well, off to bed. I have to get up early tomorrow to go in and make up and Anatomy lab practical on the respiratory system. Fun fun fun.

Oh, and Brandon said he felt left out because I didn't have any pictures of him on my blog so here ya go Bran man:

My Brother Brandon (I can't believe I'm admitting that in public)

I'm Sooo Busy--the Story of My Life

Man, I keep not having time to blog. I have just been so busy lately. A lot has happened the past few days. Friday was Chris's birthday. Happy Birthday Chris!!! I love you Sticky!

Chris with his weapon of mass destruction--my hair dryer
Also on Friday was our first group training for the bike trip. We only went twenty miles, and it was on St. Mark's trail, so it wasn't bad. Then I went and babysat at the Parents' Night Out fundraiser at the church. I must say, that was some of the easiest money I've made in a while. The kids were really good. We just hung out in the playground for a while and then we helped them make bracelets while we watched the Lion King.
Saturday was Ian's birthday, Happy Birthday Ian!, but I couldn't go to Ian's surprise party because of all the things I already had to do: I went to Wakulla Springs for Chris's birthday party and I actually didn't swim. It was weird, but I still had fun. I didn't swim because I didn't have time to shower before Christina and I went to dinner at Sonny's and to see Singin' in the Rain at Godby. Dinner was great, I love Sonny's and the musical was pretty good. A little choppy, but all of the singing and acting was great, and Erin Grubbs, Meghann Bryant, Libby Wyman, and Kelly Albritton were all in it. They were all really good. Erin was the lead and he was awesome, he is just so natural. Meghann played the lead another night, but she was part of the dancers and chorus when I saw it and she was awesome, of course. Libby played this really funny part of the movie director and she was hilarious. Kelly was a feature dancer and she dances really well. She danced with Stewart Fleming a lot, oh yeah, he was in it too. Anyways, it was worth seeing.
So today was Sunday and it was the Missions Conference, which was really cool. I wish we could always have one service, it was really awesome to have that full of a house and we got to do a skit that went really well. Then we stayed all afternoon to work on our drama. When we actually did the drama, we skipped like half a page of lines, but other than that it went pretty smooth. So, it's been a fun-filled weekend, and I'm sure this week will be no less busy. Alright, well, I'm going to bed.

"Oops! I mean sitAR player."

Today I feel: just a little bit aggravated

Normally, I really like Comcast High Speed Internet. However the past two days it has been a major cause of annoyance in my life. I don't really know what was wrong, but it wasn't just me, it was everyone who has Comcast. But whatever, it's fixed now. So that is why I haven't blogged in a few days. We got a new computer today. Our other one broke while my dad was trying to fix it. Anyone else see the irony in that?
On Tuesday night I went to see Amanda, Daniel, and Jake in their band concert at Chiles. The PCBS group all went together to support our fellow PCBS member, Amanda Lloyd. Afterwards we went to TCBY and ate ice cream and read Acts chapter (12 which is cool because that is where the skit Calyn and I are writing for church comes from). Tons of fun and white chocolate mousse soft serve were had by all.
I applied for my passport on Wednesday. I know I am really behind, but considering all the struggles I had to overcome just to do this, Wed was good for me. Then, Calyn and I went to watch Brandon and Chris's track meet. They were awesome as usual. Then we had to go practice a skit at church, but not before stopping at your favorite place and mine, Taco Bell! So that was pretty much Wednesday.
Tonight I had to go sing at Spring Showcase at my school. It is pretty much a big talent show with a large variety of acts. I sang and danced with Melodears to "Rhythm of the Night" and we all dressed up in 80s outfits. We were hot. That's just all there is to it. Here, see for yourself:

This is Kelley and I. The best part is Kelley's hair: she teased it and made it huge. Oh, and you can't really tell in the picture but I had these awesome green/blue fishnet stockings on. It was so much fun. There were some really cool acts. One guy played a sitar (Moulin Rouge!!) with this other guy who played a saz(?) and it sounded so cool. Wow, there were also these karate dancing singing people. It was kinda strange but really cool because they did all these crazy flips and stuff. You should have been there. There is another show tomorrow night with different acts, but I can't go because of bike training and the babysitting thing at the church. Oh, and please pray for me because there are going to be four or five 12 to 13 year old boys spending the night at my house tomorrow for Chris's birthday. Calyn, I really wish you were going to be in town because I was planning on spending the night at your house. Sad for me, but I hope ya'll have fun at the conference.
Wow, these entries just keep getting longer and longer. Sorry guys. Okay, it's past my new bedtime, which I have self-imposed to be 9:30. Okay, I know it won't ever happen but I am always so tired, so I figure if I shoot for 9:30 then I'll definitely be in before midnight.
Oooh, 9 minutes until Chris's birthday and 24 hours and 9 minutes until Ian's.
Okay, I know this is weird but I just realized that if you look really hard at the picture you can see my eyes through the sunglasses. Weird!

Too much to do!!!

Wow, I just read everyone's blogs from the last four days. Sorry I haven't written in a while. I'm ususally pretty good about keeping up with it, but I have been so busy and I'm gonna be really busy again this week. This is my only free night until next Friday (that's 11 days from now!) and I'm sure by then something will be planned for that night to. Anyone else feeling my pain? This time of year is always hectic, but with me being a senior and preparing for all of my summer trips and everything COSTS so much! Ahhhh! It's crazy and I'm getting kind of stressed. Okay, Jenna, breathe in. Let it out. There, much better. Please pray for me guys.
So, now to catch you up on what has been going on in my life:
Thursday- I cleaned the kitchen and did the dishes, then made a really nice dinner for my family, only to find out that they would all be late (I had to be to Russian lessons at 7). So, I ate by myself at a table set for five. Then I went to learn Russian with our awesome teachers Calyn and Lori. We had tons of fun and a lot of good food. я люблю тебя! Then Calyn and I went to Publix to buy my mom stuff for her birthday. Calyn got her a coconut and a balloon and this awesome card with a "sparkly" mermaid on it and I got her a card and some York peppermint patty Bites.
Friday/Saturday- It was my mom's birthday so Chris and I woke up at 5:20 and made her breakfast in bed and gave her presents to her. (She named the coconut Wilson, Calyn. She said it's too cute to eat. It really does look like it's saying something and it's got eyes...awwww) This is a miracle in itself, as Chris won't even get up before 8:00 on his own birthday. That night, I went to the Relay for Life for my mom's work (which is my former work) and I did 17 laps and threw around a baseball for hours (since I haven't done that in quite a while I was just a little sore the next day). I had a lot of fun with my brothers (well, one in particular) and this girl Lindsey who is Mrs. Terri's daughter and goes to school with Brandon and Chris. I stayed up until 2:45 in the morning (just enough time to lose horribly in the egg toss. Nice throw Chris!) then I went to sleep in my van in the Chiles parking lot, because I was not about to try to sleep on a lawn chair in the cold without a sleeping bag only to hear "GOOD MORNING TALLAHASSEE! It's 4:00 in the morning!!! only an hour after I finally fell asleep. So, we left at 7:45 on Sat. morning and I went home and slept until 3:30 in the afternoon. Then I got up and went to Applebee's for dinner with my aunt, my cousin, Mrs. Rhonnie, Callie and Rhian, Mrs. Renee Wold, and Megan Wold, oh, and my mom and then we went to see "The Miracle Worker" at TCC. For those of you who don't know, it's about Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan. The girl that played Helen went to my school and she was awesome. If I didn't know her, I would have thought see was blind in real life.
Sunday- Church in the morning. Came home and took a nap, a very innterupted one at that, in fact I'm not sure I really slept at all. Then I went back to church. Drama was great. We had a very productive practice. Then I went and played FRISBEE at REC rocs. It was awesome. I made some awesome catches and blocks. I think I even blocked one while Daniel was within a couple feet of me. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Daniel Lloyd. Choir was good, I'm actually beginning to like the songs in our musical, which is good because I'm going to have to sing it like fifty times on the bike trip. Then in youth we played the "would-you-rather" game and talked about helping others in your community and bearing each other's burdens. Afterward I hung out and had an awesome ride on Christian's skateboard (thanks, Nicole :-)).
All in all it was a great weekend but I am really tired now. Well, I have a lot to do. So, I really need to go. I'm excited about "PCBS to go" tomorrow night. We're going to see Amanda's band concert. Yea for Amanda.
Wow this is a freaking long entry. Congrats to whoever read it all!

Decisions, Decisions...

I'm still sick :-( which means I can't go biking with fun people today. Sad for me. However, since I am home, I am going to use my time wisely and finally write my support letter for Ukraine. I have been thinking a lot lately about summer trips. Originally, I had decided that I was going to go on every youth trip this summer because it is my last summer in the youth group. But I was thinking about it the other day and I was disappointed because I just recently found out that I wasn't going to be able to go to Camp Charis, which was a sad thing for me because it was going to be the first year that I can be a counselor, and I really wanted to do it. But, the only week I had available to go to Camp was the week that I have to go to FSU orientation. The more I thought about it the more I realized that I don't really need to go on the New Orleans mission trip. I had really felt called to work at Camp Charis and the only reason that I had considered going to New Orleans was because of my "go on every trip" thing. I still need to do some more praying about this, but I've been seeing more and more reasons to do this. Since I will already have a large financial commitment with the Ukraine trip, the bike trip, and Student Life Camp, it would make a lot more since to go to Camp Charis for free rather than going to New Orleans and paying for it. Plus, if I have really felt God calling me to work at Camp Charis as much as I've said that I have, I need to be willing to do anything to do that, even if it means giving up something (like another youth trip). If ya'll could please be praying for me as I make these decisions and if you would like to make a financial contribution for my trip to Radooga in Ukraine, please e-mail me at JennaBean18@comcast.net and I will give you more information. Thanks everyone.

Happy Birthday Calyn!

Today I feel: sick

So I wake up this morning and randomly start throwing up. I mean yeah, I had a headache all day yesterday but I thought it was because I hadn't gotten a lot of sleep the night before. So now, not only can I not go to bible study, but I can't go sing at the concert that I was missing bible study for. Of all the days to get sick...
But there is one good thing about this day: It's Calyn's 20th birthday!!! Happy birthday Calyn! I'm so glad that I've got a friend as awesome as you. I hope that we can always be friends (Auntie Calyn!). It's awesome that we get along so well and I just really love spending time with you. I hope you have a great birthday. We really need to start having some Cheers parties sometime soon. I still need to see the first episode.

Me and Calyn

Wristbands and Best Friends

Today I feel: tired...blah!

I love how whenever I am supposed to do homework I read people's blogs until it gets really late and then I do my homework, because that makes sense. My Student Life Conference wristband fell off today. This was a) sad because I almost made it to a month after the conference, but then it fell off and b) awesome because I was the last one left and I was getting sick of it. I did win though, which in my five years going to the conference I have never done. It normally rips on something or like one year I had to cut it off for softball games. Now that I've talked about completely irrelevant and random things, I shall move on.
Sarah was back this weekend. She actually came back from Auburn last weekend on Spring Break so she got to come to my birthday party but then she spent the week at the beach with her friends from school so I didn't get to talk to her that much. I spent the night with her last night and we talked until 3:30 in the morning. Well, I guess it was technically 2:30 but with the whole time change thing it was 3:30. We caught up on stuff (after not seeing her, actually, not even talking to her, since the end of January we had a lot to talk about) and talked about boys, you know, all that great girl talk stuff. I love how whenever she comes back we can just pick up where we left off and it's like she hasn't really been gone that long. That's how you can tell you've got a true friend. I mean, granted, I've got a lot of great awesome friends, but Sarah really is one of the best friends I've ever had (Calyn falls into this catergory too, we are, or I guess were until Sarah moved away, the Three Musketeers). It's good to know that I've got people who I could move across the country and we would still be able to hang out every now and then and it would be like I just saw them yesterday. You guys are the best!
Okay, so I really do have to do my homework now so I can go to bed so I can get some sleep so I can try to break my stupid cycle where I'm always tired. So, as my dear friend Kip would say, "Peace out."

Da Post

Yes, you are listening to In Da Club*...
I'm spending da night with Calyn tonight, well, I guess this morning. I am very excited about Springtime Tallahassee tomorrow, but more importantly about Calyn's birthday party! I really don't have too much to say, I just wanted to give a shoutout to all my homies in da hood (and "da club"). I'm going to bed now, because me and Calyn are both very tired and we have to get up relatively early for da parade tomorrow.

*Da lyrics in this song are not endorsed by Jenna Myrick or her affiliates. Da opinions expressed are solely those of 50 Cent.