#69. Cook dinner for my parents.

#69. Cook dinner for my parents.

So another item on my bucket list is to cook dinner for those lovely parents of mine. For all my life they have provided for me not only emotionally and such, but also with good food in my tummy. I thought it would be nice to return the favor every so often. 

My family loves to grill things on our grill, and my favorite thing is burgers! Good 'old American Cheeseburgers! Yeah buddy! So one night I went to Jewel and got all the necessary items for a cook out and brought them all home. I set the table and started the grill up! 

Quick side story. Right by the grill on the side of our house is a gutter that lets all the rain water not flood our house. During the summertime a little bird decides that it's a good idea to make her nest there. While it's away from all the elements that may bother her, it does cause her to get mad at us when we grill. She always will fly away in a huff and puff and chirp at us like crazy! One day I told her that I wouldn't snatch up her babies, but she should be careful because she might end up on our grill if she keeps back talking to us. She still chirped at me, but it's alright. Ha! 

So I continued to prepare dinner and went a little overboard on preparing the fruit for the meal. I love watermelon and love to make those fruit kabob things. So I thought I would become a culinary chef for the night and make a masterpiece! It turned out pretty well until it became a little top heavy and fell over... Oh well! It was good while it lasted! 

My Mom, Dad, Riley & I ready to enjoy our dinner! 

Yum yum yum! Yummy in your tummy! 

I may or may not have gone a little over board with the preparation of the fruit... 

What kinds of yummy things have you made or eaten lately? 

{Peace&Love} Jenny 

#10. Make a Pinterest craft (maybe 2 or 3…)

Item #10 on my bucket list = Make a Pinterest craft (maybe 

2 or 3…)

That is quite easy for me! I love crafts. AND. I love Pinterest! I probably love Pinterest a little bit too much... But that's okay. YOLO? Right? It's not a big deal that I have my wedding planned out on there... Or that I have my dream house picked out with the colors and everything! 


The first craft that I did was for my wonderful Mom for Mother's Day. I am in love with how it turned out and I'm really excited to share it!


So I first went to the dollar store and got a semi flat sided, yet round candle holder. I do realize that last sentence didn't make sense, flat but round? Yeah, I guess it has been a long day... Anyways. The glass is medium sized and can hold a candle very nicely. I then went to the scrapbook store and got vellum paper. Vellum paper is the type of paper that you can print pictures or other things on, so that is very exciting. Next I measured out the space where I wanted the picture to be. I then made sure that my picture was that size when I printed it on the vellum paper. The picture printed very nicely on the paper, so the next step is to cut the picture out to fit the size of the glass. To attach the photo to the glass, I used clear double sided tape. It actually worked out better than I thought it would. Plus, my Mom loved! We now light the candle when we have family dinners. :) Yeah buddy! 

My homemade candle holder! 

More Pinterest crafts will probably come in the near future. Until then, what fun Pinterest crafts have you made?? I would love to hear about them! 

{Peace&Love} Jenny

Summer Bucket List!

Summer Bucket List 2012!!!!

I decided that it would be fun to make a bucket list of things to do this summer. I came up with a list of 70 things to do. I am keeping a journal (both on paper and on this blog), taking a picture of each thing and writing about each adventure. Hopefully by the end of the summer I will have a journal filled with pictures, stories and memories to last a lifetime! Sound cheesy? Maybe. But I'm excited. :) 

So here's THE list:

1.             Take a jumping picture on a trampoline.

2.             Watch fireworks at Navy Pier.

3.             Go on a daddy-daughter dog walk. 

4.             Buy lemonade from a lemonade stand.

5.             Make a fort in the living room.

6.             Get a mani/pedi.  

7.             Go swimming!

8.             Have a water balloon fight.

9.             Tie dye something.

10.                  Make a Pinterest craft (maybe 2 or 3…)

11.                  Go to a drive-in movie.

12.                  Dress up and go out to dinner. 

13.                  Write letters to far away friends.

14.                  Go to SONIC!

15.                  Make homemade crayons

16.                  Find true love?

17.                  Fly a kite

18.                  Go on a picnic

19.                  Stargaze

20.                  Go on a road trip

21.                  Go on a vacation

22.                  Go to the farmers market

23.                  Make chocolate chip cookies

24.                  Family movie & game night

25.                  Go mini golfing

26.                  Eat popsicles.

27.                  Go to the beach

28.                  Make homemade pizza

29.                  Have an Un-Birthday party

30.                  See an IMAX/3D movie

31.                  Do sidewalk chalk art

32.                  Roast marshmallows

33.                  Celebrate 4^th of July

34.                  Have a sleepover

35.                  Go garage saleing with Bapa

36.                  Play in the sprinkler

37.                  Hand wash the car

38.                  Visit the Bean in Chicago

39.                  Ride my bike

40.                  Have a costume party

41.                  Go bowling

42.                  Go backyard camping.

43.                  Dance in the rain

44.                  Have a bon fire

45.                  Go to a concert

46.                  Bake something for someone

47.                  Make a new friend

48.                  Test drive a car.

49.                  Visit the zoo!

50.                  Take the train somewhere

51.                  Rearrange my room

52.                  Hike around Waterfall Glen

53.                  Go fishing

54.                  Go to IKEA!

55.                  Eat breakfast for dinner.

56.                  Play with the puppies at the pet store

57.                  VOLUNTEER!

58.                  Take Nana & Bapa on an adventure.

59.                  Grow in my faith.

60.                  Fry an egg outside.

61.                  Go to the county fair

62.                  See the sun set and rise.

63.                  Go to a baseball game.

64.                  Have a BBQ with friends.

65.                  Make ‘Dirt in a Cup’.

66.                  Go on a photo-shoot with friends

67.                  Make chalk paint

68.                  Go to a museum

69.                  Cook dinner for my parents

70.                  Hold an end of summer party

Do you have a summer bucket list? I would love to hear about it! If you don't have one, make one! It doesn't have to have a ton of things, just make a few that you would like to accomplish! 

{Peace&Love} Jenny 

Dear Mother Nature, We are friends off...

Today is Thursday. The temperature was out of this world, and that is totally not cool. Ha! So what do I do in this heat filled day? I GO TO CAMP! It seems like the obvious thing to do. My mom is in charge of the archery program at our local Girl Scout camp. I was privileged to go out to camp today and hang out with her and all the core staff! While I had a ton of fun, it was just so dang hot! It was one of those days where you just don't stop sweating no matter what... Yeah...

One story I would like to share was about a conversation I had with a Brownie, who was going into 2nd grade. She was shy at first, but after I started talking with her and asking her some questions, she didn't stop talking! I guess her extended family was coming in from out of town, so she told me about each of her 40 or 50 something relatives that were coming in. She came in late this morning, so I was helping her to find where her unit was. We went to their campsite, but there were no where to be found. I told the little girl that her counselors and other friends turned invisible and were hiding from us! We then made it our mission to put on "invisible-seeing glasses" and find her friends! It was quite an adventure! Oh to be 7 again! We then started talking about flying cars. How we got on this subject, I'm still not quite sure. She said that her dad told her that when she's older and has kids there will prolly be flying cars. She then said that she will tell her kids that, 'When I was your age, cars had 4 wheels!!' It was so funny to hear this 7 year old talk about the future and what she will tell her future kids!

So Thursday was very adventurous. I am exhausted now from the heat and I'm heading off to bed! Goodnight world! Sleep well and don't let the bed bugs bite!

{Peace&Love} Jenny

I'm back! :)

Summer is just around the corner for some. For me it has already arrived. I realize that it has been quite a while since I have blogged, and I do find myself missing it. So I'm back! I have had a lot of things on my mind lately and have been typing up or scribbling on random sheets of paper around my messy room. I hope you find my posts interesting and possibly insightful because this is the way I see it. :)

Life is Better with Jesus.

I can definitely say that life is better with my good friend, Jesus. About a year ago, an online store/website found it's way into my life. It's called Son Gear. They have wonderful things like shirts, cards, hoodies, and anything else you can imagine. It is a Christian based website, and the creator has such a passion for Christ and it shows in the things they distribute. One cool thing they are doing now is called "Coat for Coat." This project involves buying a coat, and by doing so, Son Gear will donate a coat to someone who needs it. 

Its a great ministry that you should definitely check out in the near future. Visit it at: www.songear.com 

Until next time,

Jenny

iGlow. Do you?

This past weekend, I was blessed with the experience of the IYC iGlow workshop. Well, first I should probably back it up and explain what IYC is.

IYC. It stands for Interdenominational Youth Choir, but trust me it means so much more. In short it is a Gospel choir on my college's campus that has 50+ members who sing to the Lord with all their heart. All through highschool I was a part of my church's youth choir and it was an amazing experience. My best friends to this day are those who I met due to being a part of that choir. When I got to college, I got involved in a church right away and I am so thankful for that. I instantly connected with the other college kids that I met at church. There still was a part of me that was missing, and that wasn't content. I missed the choir aspect of my life, and making joyful music with my friends. One day, out of the blue, I was talking to a friend in my math class and she told me about this Christian choir group and invited me to join her at a rehearsal. I looked the choir online just to see what it was all about. I decided to go and check out a practice. I was welcomed with open arms held out wide! After the first song we sang, I knew that this was the place for me. I have formed many friendships in the past few weeks with the other choir members, and I can't wait for what's in store ahead.

So back to the amazing things that happened this weekend. Every year, IYC hosts a big workshop for gospel choirs across Illinois. The weekend started out with a college concert night on Friday. This showcased all of the choirs that came for the weekend and allowed them to show off their talents in a few songs. When it was our turn to go up we blew the audience away with our joyful music and energetic attitudes. IYC sang 4 songs total, and boy was it fun! I let the music inside of me and just rocked out by singing and dancing my heart out.

Saturday started off bright and early. We were fortunate enough to have 2 classes that taught us all how to strengthen our faith. Later on in the day we had Tye Tribbett, a famous Gospel artist come in and to a class for us. The words that he shared with us were just amazing. He has such an insight on life and a strong relationship with God. One thing that stuck out that he said over the weekend was "When it's raining hard, you know it won't last long..." That night we had a mass choir rehearsal where Mr. Tye Tribbett conducted us all and taught us his songs. The sound that was produced by all of us was just outstanding!

Then on Sunday we had the mass choir concert. It started off with the praise team singing some songs. Followed by a beautiful dance by the praise team dancers. One of my favorites of the day was the mime ministers who did a dance to a song and let me tell you, it was amazing! It was one of those moments when your sitting in where you are and everything around you is still and it seems like everything is content. The mass choir then filled the stage and worshiped and sang with Tye. It was an experience I will never forget. I was so excited that my dad got to come down to see me sing. We went out for a yummy dinner and got to chat for a bit. :)

I really feel that I am still glowing from this weekend and probably will be for a while. I'm spreading my light with everyone here on my campus, and everyone I can. So when someone asks, 'Do you glow in the dark?' I can say 'iGlow!'

Tye Tribbett & I