Life in the moments

^^Picture taken on campus of NPU^^

Before the massacre of the tall wheatgrass...

This school year is just about finished with.

I am struggling to find the motivation to finish the only 3 things I have left..

BUT soon it will be over and it will be summer...

Can't wait to float around Chicago for a week and then head home to MN for a few weeks....

Then finally go to camp where I can have fun all summer long.....

Then travel back to Chicago and move into my new apartment with my best friends......

Life is always going by pretty quickly, even when I think it's going slowly.

STOP.

Enjoy the moments of life, because it all adds up to the days, weeks, and years.

Just some food for thought. Have a wonderful Tuesday!

Friends

It has been 5 days since driving 24 hours back from Cayo Costa State Park in Florida. Spring Break came at a perfect time. Not that I'm too overwhelmed from school or sick of Chicago, there were other reasons. This semester has been better than last, but is still not as I would like it to be. Spring Break was a perfect escape with my very best friends.

There were 6 of us total. 3 of my best girl friends; Hannah Ahlem, Chelsey Trogstad, and Anna Chybowski. Along also came Jonatan and Thor, the testosterone for the week. The road trip was a blast, although we did run into a few strange people on the highway. We spotted all but about 5 state license plates on the road.

In Florida, the first couple days we crashed at our friends house they rented for the week. Spent some time at the beach and then watched them play "games" and had a fun bonfire. After about 2 days of that fun, we headed to our final destination: Cayo Costa.

After a 30 minute tow boat ride out to the State Park Island, we unloaded our camping supplies and hopped on the tram. That night we set up camp and ate a delicious meal. On the island, we spent our days fishing, laying out, exploring, eating, and having bonfires. Later on in the week, Jonatan and Thor met a couple of guys our age that were SHARK fishing at night. The boys quickly became obsessed with our new friends and wanted to learn all they could about shark fishing. The last 3 nights in Florida we spent laying on the beach in our sleeping bags while the boys reeled in an average of 3 sharks a night!! They caught Lemon sharks, bull sharks, and sandbar sharks. It was pretty sweet. By far the best/most interesting spring break adventure!

This trip made me realize that I am so lucky to have my friends. (not that I didn't know that already!) But seriously, I may not have as many girl friends as I once did as a freshman, but I know that I have fewer but closer best friends now. It doesn't matter the quantity of friends one has, but the quality. I know that I have quality friends at my fingertips. Friends that are going through the same things as me and friends that hold the same life values as I do.

Sometimes, I'm not going to lie, I get frustrated or irritated with them, but we always get through it. I'm sure they feel the same about me at times!

Friendship is very important to me and I am so thankful for the friends I have. I love them and they make things like Spring Break and road trips super great!!

Here's some pictures from our trip!

Alta Rose Olson

Me, Alta, Liz

Tomorrow is the day that my beautiful cousin, Alta, is getting married!!

We three cousins have been super close for our whole lives. We've taken spring break trips, spent weeks at camp together, made stupid videos, made up dances, were obsessed with boys together, spent every Christmas together, and so much more.

We have been there for each other in every good and bad part in our lives. I am SO blessed to have them as my cousins.

Alta is the oldest one of the three of us, and I think I can speak for both me and Liz when I say that we both have looked up to her for most of our lives. First off, she is gorgeous. But not only that, but she is the most sincere person. She genuinely loves and cares for all the people in her life.

She has found that one person that she wants to spend her life with, and I couldn't be more happier. Jesse David Keller. She is so perfectly happy when she is with him and will be for the rest of her life. I'm sure he knows, but Jesse is so lucky to have her.

So, Alta, as these next few days come and your journey begins with Jesse I wish you the best. God is going to bless the two of you in your marriage and I can't wait to see where that leads both of you!

Love you much,

Jenna

Back to the Simple

Today is a Sunday.

There is something about Sundays that make me want to sit around and do nothing. BUT here is the best part. Sundays are days when you can do that and not feel bad about it! But wait...that isn't the case today.

As you can tell, I am taking time out of my day right now to blog. Yes. Not do homework, clean, or planning for a friend's wedding. (All things that need to get done). But here's the thing. It's going to get done. Everything that I need to do, I'll do it. Just in my own time.

Life is too hectic and it's easy to get caught up in the little everyday duties that we have to accomplish. Yes, they are important and we do need to do them. But there are more important things in life.

Back to the SIMPLE.

A recent goal of mine has been to draw closer to God. This is one of the ways I feel the closest to Him. During the day, stopping to remember that He is in control and is over all the little tiny things that I stress about (or don't stress about).

This is my time in the day to stop and remember that God is in control and is taking care of me.

Blogging in Z-time (aka...late)

It has been a while since I have done an update. Much has happened in my life since my last post. So much that it actually overwhelms me to the point when I don't want to take the time to write about it. A way that I believe to be most powerful when sharing experiences I've had, is through pictures. I'm going to post a few of my favorite pictures so that you can see some of what I saw in Zambia.

The view of Victoria Falls

Matilda, the girl that I sponsor through SPARK ventures!

Teza, the girl with the cutest voice and attitude.

After our hike to the bottom of the Falls.

We were almost attacked by baboons!

Little Zebra guys!

My pal, Nknogono playing drums.

Trying to get a picture with one kid is impossible.

These are just a few of my pictures. If you want to see more, you can check them out on my Flickr site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/35457355@N04/

More to come soon...

Lazy Days

Now that the rush of finals has flown by, I can relax.
Having absolutely nothing to do (besides Christmas shopping, of course) feels very odd.
Being able to sit at home all day without an agenda...and not feel bad about it.

As of right now, I sit on the couch, drinking hot apple cider, while watching "You've Got Mail."

Enjoying a lazy weekend is on top of my list at the moment.

Tomorrow I will start getting things done.

Getting ready for Christmas...and Zambia!!

Once again, my trip creeps up on me without realizing it.

I read through my journal from my last trip, and I got excited as I remembered how I felt while I was there.

Only 9 days until I leave.

This week is going to be a fun one! On Tuesday my sister and brother-in-law are going to be coming home. I haven't seen either of them in a long time, and I'm really excited!

My brother and sister-in-law are also coming home for Christmas day. It will be nice to finally all be together again. It seriously happens so rarely.

I can't wait to live in this Christmas break. It's going to be one to remember.

Autopilot

Do you ever feel like you're on autopilot?

Wake up, go to class, come home, eat a meal, go on the computer, go on facebook, check e-mail, listen to music, go to meetings, see friends, check phone, send a text, receive a text, eat another meal, go work out, go to another meeting, go on facebook again...etc...

Recently I feel like this is all I have been doing. Continuously moving and doing things that I don't necessarily want to be doing, but do anyways. Worrying about summer plans, finals, money, friends, and more. Why? Because if you don't worry, it doesn't mean that you care? That is usually what people seem to say. "You're not worried about what you're doing after school?" "Do you think you should really give your money away? When are you going to get a job?"

Not worrying doesn't mean not taking action. Not worrying is giving your worries and thoughts over to God. But also, not sitting back and saying, "okay, God, it's up to you now, I'm going to just sit here and wait for you to give me whatever I am asking." Instead it's taking steps forward and seeing which doors God opens and closes. I'm not sure what this has to do with being on autopilot. Maybe what I'm saying is that once you stop worrying and praying is when you're on autopilot.

Not a good place to be. We all have those days when we may feel this way. What we simply have to do is push through and at the end of the day- start prayin'.