Monday, May 28, 2012
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. :)
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
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
Monday, October 24, 2011
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!'
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 |
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Only for GIrl Scouts...
Being a part of Girl Scouts, is something great and really special. I am fortunate enough to have had my mom be a great troop leader. The 12 other girls that graduated high school with me and were in my troop, yeah, they were and still are my best friends. Girl Scouts has made such an impact on my life, that I am finding ways to give back to the Scouting community. One way I am doing so is becoming a troop leader for a daisy troop in my college's town. All the details aren't set in stone yet, but they will be soon.
My good friend Julie and I are all reregistered and ready to volunteer our time and our hearts to become a mentor, friend and troop leader to a group of younger girls. We contacted a membership person from the council down here to get information about leading a troop in the area. The woman e-mailed us back the other day and gave us a choice between 2 local schools in our area. It was up to us to decide which school we would start our troop at. Since neither of us are from the area, we had no idea what each of the schools were like let alone where the heck they were. After consulting MapQuest, we found that both schools are about a mile away from our dorms and would likely take us a half hour to walk to each school. Cold weather is quickly approaching, and I knew that we would not be smiling in the snow walking to our meetings to see our kindergartners. We decided it would be a good idea to try the public transportation system and find a bus to get us there.
Our meeting with the person from council is tomorrow and we had to let her know which school we wanted to be at before the meeting. So we decided that it would be a good idea to do a test run on the bus. When we walked out of our dorm, it wasn't raining too much. By the time we got to the bus stop a few blocks away, it started to rain some more... We got on the bus and were only a tad bit wet. Neither of us have ever been to this school, and we only had a general idea of where it was. The bus ventured through the slick busy streets, and I saw a street sign that looked familiar so I signaled for us to get off. Little did I know that it was the wrong street. At this point it was pouring rain, and we were walking through side streets looking for this elementary school, hoping that it was near by.
We eventually found it and had a look around. We did get some weird looks, but that was probably because 2 strange soaking wet teenagers are wandering around a grade school... The grade school was actually really cute and made me even more excited to get a troop going.
After a glance at our watches, we realized that we should start heading back if we wanted to catch the bus. So we forged the monsoon again, and found the busy street that the bus route was on. The traffic was being rude and wouldn't let us just J-Walk across the busy street, so we ventured down a block or two to the stop light. Finally we made it to the covered bus stop (which was fantastic because at this point we were SOAKED). After waiting for a half hour to 45 minutes, and seeing no bus... We called Julie's amazing friend and she gave us a ride back to our dorm.
Only for Girl Scouts will I forge a monsoon and go on an adventure to a grade school. I'm super excited to share a troop with Julie and I think we are gonna be awesome leaders. :)
Until next time,
Jenny
My good friend Julie and I are all reregistered and ready to volunteer our time and our hearts to become a mentor, friend and troop leader to a group of younger girls. We contacted a membership person from the council down here to get information about leading a troop in the area. The woman e-mailed us back the other day and gave us a choice between 2 local schools in our area. It was up to us to decide which school we would start our troop at. Since neither of us are from the area, we had no idea what each of the schools were like let alone where the heck they were. After consulting MapQuest, we found that both schools are about a mile away from our dorms and would likely take us a half hour to walk to each school. Cold weather is quickly approaching, and I knew that we would not be smiling in the snow walking to our meetings to see our kindergartners. We decided it would be a good idea to try the public transportation system and find a bus to get us there.
Our meeting with the person from council is tomorrow and we had to let her know which school we wanted to be at before the meeting. So we decided that it would be a good idea to do a test run on the bus. When we walked out of our dorm, it wasn't raining too much. By the time we got to the bus stop a few blocks away, it started to rain some more... We got on the bus and were only a tad bit wet. Neither of us have ever been to this school, and we only had a general idea of where it was. The bus ventured through the slick busy streets, and I saw a street sign that looked familiar so I signaled for us to get off. Little did I know that it was the wrong street. At this point it was pouring rain, and we were walking through side streets looking for this elementary school, hoping that it was near by.
We eventually found it and had a look around. We did get some weird looks, but that was probably because 2 strange soaking wet teenagers are wandering around a grade school... The grade school was actually really cute and made me even more excited to get a troop going.
After a glance at our watches, we realized that we should start heading back if we wanted to catch the bus. So we forged the monsoon again, and found the busy street that the bus route was on. The traffic was being rude and wouldn't let us just J-Walk across the busy street, so we ventured down a block or two to the stop light. Finally we made it to the covered bus stop (which was fantastic because at this point we were SOAKED). After waiting for a half hour to 45 minutes, and seeing no bus... We called Julie's amazing friend and she gave us a ride back to our dorm.
Only for Girl Scouts will I forge a monsoon and go on an adventure to a grade school. I'm super excited to share a troop with Julie and I think we are gonna be awesome leaders. :)
Until next time,
Jenny
Sunday, September 25, 2011
That Awkward Moment When... #1
So we all probably know this, but life is FILLED with awkward moments. Sometimes they are more noticeable than others.... It's always fun to share these awkward moments with others. I decided to do a little series where I'll share awkward stories that occur in my life. There are a few rules though... No judging. No laughing. No smiling. Okay, well, I guess you can smile and laugh, otherwise what fun would this be? :)
This past Saturday night a bunch of girls from my dorm floor decided to go to this Hog Roast. A local fraternity was hosting a Hog Roast and we knew a guy who was in it, so he sold us some tickets. I've never been to a Hog Roast before because they don't really do that where I'm from, so I was really excited. Not only was I excited to experience all that a Hog Roast was, I was also looking forward to meeting cute southern boys with amazing accents. Haha!
About an hour before we were going to leave, all of us girls were getting all dolled up. There was hair curling, toe nail painting, dressing up cute and just general excitement. After everyone was all ready to go, we took some group pictures [ Because I guess that's the college thing to do... haha. But it's all good, I like pictures :) ] and started walking to the Hog Roast. We walked past these weird apartments and there were these creepy guys sitting in their window who started calling out to us. It was really awkward and weird... So we keep on walking, and finally get to the fraternity's house. We walk up and show them our ticket in exchange for a black dot on our hand. All of us walked into the backyard where the food was, and we found that we were surrounded by a crowd of people wearing jeans, tennis shoes and plaid shirts. Needless to say we didn't really get the memo about the southern style outfits... And they didn't even have the pig out for us to see...
On the bright side dinner was fairly good. No, I did not have hog (I know Dad... I should've tried it... Next time...) But I did have excellent corn on the cob and really good potato chip type things. Things didn't turn out quite how I expected... but it still was a great and fun night spent with friends.
Next time we get all dressed up, I say we just go out to dinner or something like that. :)
Until next time,
Jenny
This past Saturday night a bunch of girls from my dorm floor decided to go to this Hog Roast. A local fraternity was hosting a Hog Roast and we knew a guy who was in it, so he sold us some tickets. I've never been to a Hog Roast before because they don't really do that where I'm from, so I was really excited. Not only was I excited to experience all that a Hog Roast was, I was also looking forward to meeting cute southern boys with amazing accents. Haha!
About an hour before we were going to leave, all of us girls were getting all dolled up. There was hair curling, toe nail painting, dressing up cute and just general excitement. After everyone was all ready to go, we took some group pictures [ Because I guess that's the college thing to do... haha. But it's all good, I like pictures :) ] and started walking to the Hog Roast. We walked past these weird apartments and there were these creepy guys sitting in their window who started calling out to us. It was really awkward and weird... So we keep on walking, and finally get to the fraternity's house. We walk up and show them our ticket in exchange for a black dot on our hand. All of us walked into the backyard where the food was, and we found that we were surrounded by a crowd of people wearing jeans, tennis shoes and plaid shirts. Needless to say we didn't really get the memo about the southern style outfits... And they didn't even have the pig out for us to see...
On the bright side dinner was fairly good. No, I did not have hog (I know Dad... I should've tried it... Next time...) But I did have excellent corn on the cob and really good potato chip type things. Things didn't turn out quite how I expected... but it still was a great and fun night spent with friends.
Next time we get all dressed up, I say we just go out to dinner or something like that. :)
 |
| All of us girls ready to go :) |
Until next time,
Jenny
Thursday, September 22, 2011
For Greater Things Have Yet To Come.
It is a Thursday night and I am finding myself doing what I do on most nights, studying. The thing that makes this night different than other nights is that I have found a new place to study! You see, I live on the 15th floor of my building, and while we have a lounge to use for study and play, it is mostly used for recreational purposes. It's at night times when the floor “comes alive” and everyone is in there bonding and causing trouble. So tonight I ventured up to the 18th floor with my friend Julie. We wanted to find a new place to study, so we thought it would be a good place to test out.
Nighttime has always fascinated me when in bigger cities because I love to look at the city lights. I know that the town I am living currently wouldn’t really be considered a bigger city, but boy do we have a great view from the 18th floor and there are sure a lot of lights to look at, so my heart is content. I am able to see for miles and miles and watch the city as things start to die down and take rest for the night.
Sometimes darkness can be related to despair or frightful, but I don’t believe it’s either. When I was younger I am sure I was scared of the dark and hid under my covers with a flashlight in hand. And I know there have been days where the dark nights have brought sad thoughts to my mind. But I was listening to this song today called “God Of This City” by Chris Tomlin (who is a great artist, I would recommend looking up some of his music if you’ve never heard him sing before). In Chris’ song, he says, “You’re the Light in this darkness. You’re the Hope to the hopeless. You’re the Peace to the restless. You are.” These lyrics make me realize that even though it is dark outside where we are, God is still there for us and is guiding us and giving us hope and peace. Sometimes it’s hard to see God and know he is there, but these lyrics just reconfirm the fact that he is and will always be there for us. The song continues on to say “For greater things have yet to come, and greater things are still to be done in this City.” I really like these lines because it describes how each day is a new day filled with opportunities. Just because darkness, despair, frustration or sadness rains on one day, doesn’t mean that the next will be the same because greater things have yet to come.
Sitting up in the 18th floor lounge, in a quiet, peaceful time is not only relaxing, but also reassuring. It’s nights like these where I can take a moment to reflect upon what I am thankful for. I am thankful for His guiding light that leads me down a good path. I know that there are greater things to come tomorrow and the day after, but for now I am content sitting up here looking at the lights dotting the horizon around me.
~Jenny
Saturday, September 17, 2011
I'm on fuego!
Please take note to when this blog was written and posted. My clock now says 5:35 am, and also please know that I have been up for an hour or so. One may be wondering, why on earth is Jenny up so early?? No, I wasn't out partying it up. I wasn't studying like a good college student. Nope, the fire alarm went off at 4:15 in my dorm, so that is why I am up.
Wanna know something weird and scary though? My lovely roommate went home this weekend. I do miss her dearly! As I was climbing into my bed last night, I thought to myself, "So, I'm by myself. It would not be good if the fire alarm went off in the middle of the night. I hope I would be able to wake up without Amanda being here..." I am a heavy sleeper and I have been known to sleep through big thunderstorms and such. Because in college you are kinda on your own for the most part, no one's gonna come and wake you up to escape the burning building.
But yes, that was one of my last thoughts before I went to bed last night around 12:30. I slept for a good 4 hours until I heard this really loud, obnoxious beeping noise. My first thought was, 'Shoot! It's already 9 in the morning... I don't want to get up!' As I slowly woke up more, I heard a voice in addition to the beeping. It was the announcements coming over the loudspeaker of my dorm. It was at that point where I'm like, crap, what's going on. I heard that they were telling everyone to evacuate the building immediately. Upon hearing this I rushed to climb down my scary high bed (it's lofted and didn't come with a ladder... So I have to ninja scale up the wall to get into and out of bed). I threw on a sweatshirt and flip flops and grabbed my keys and phone. It didn't really occur to me that it's kinda cold outside, and all I was wearing was a sweatshirt, my brightly patterned PJ shorts and flip flops. In hindsight, I probably should have put pants on...
Everyone in my whole building was rushing down the stairs to escape whatever it was that we needed to escape. After about 10 flights of stairs, I was really starting to question why on earth I lived on the 15th floor of a 17 floor building... It was quite interesting to see the varying degree of people and their outfits as I got outside. You had those that knew what's up and were dressed in sweatpants and a sweatshirt (some even brought their blanket). Then you had those who were like me with shorts and a sweatshirt. You also saw those who literally looked like they got out of bed and ran, because all they had on was a pair of shorts and no shirt (these were only guys that I saw doing this...) And lastly you had the girls who were still dressed up from their night on the town.
Needless to say, it was quite the adventure for the night. Eventually we got the all clear and nothing seemed to be on fire. But yeah. I thought I would share my exciting happenings with you all now because I cannot fall back asleep.
Until next time,
~Jenny
Wanna know something weird and scary though? My lovely roommate went home this weekend. I do miss her dearly! As I was climbing into my bed last night, I thought to myself, "So, I'm by myself. It would not be good if the fire alarm went off in the middle of the night. I hope I would be able to wake up without Amanda being here..." I am a heavy sleeper and I have been known to sleep through big thunderstorms and such. Because in college you are kinda on your own for the most part, no one's gonna come and wake you up to escape the burning building.
But yes, that was one of my last thoughts before I went to bed last night around 12:30. I slept for a good 4 hours until I heard this really loud, obnoxious beeping noise. My first thought was, 'Shoot! It's already 9 in the morning... I don't want to get up!' As I slowly woke up more, I heard a voice in addition to the beeping. It was the announcements coming over the loudspeaker of my dorm. It was at that point where I'm like, crap, what's going on. I heard that they were telling everyone to evacuate the building immediately. Upon hearing this I rushed to climb down my scary high bed (it's lofted and didn't come with a ladder... So I have to ninja scale up the wall to get into and out of bed). I threw on a sweatshirt and flip flops and grabbed my keys and phone. It didn't really occur to me that it's kinda cold outside, and all I was wearing was a sweatshirt, my brightly patterned PJ shorts and flip flops. In hindsight, I probably should have put pants on...
Everyone in my whole building was rushing down the stairs to escape whatever it was that we needed to escape. After about 10 flights of stairs, I was really starting to question why on earth I lived on the 15th floor of a 17 floor building... It was quite interesting to see the varying degree of people and their outfits as I got outside. You had those that knew what's up and were dressed in sweatpants and a sweatshirt (some even brought their blanket). Then you had those who were like me with shorts and a sweatshirt. You also saw those who literally looked like they got out of bed and ran, because all they had on was a pair of shorts and no shirt (these were only guys that I saw doing this...) And lastly you had the girls who were still dressed up from their night on the town.
Needless to say, it was quite the adventure for the night. Eventually we got the all clear and nothing seemed to be on fire. But yeah. I thought I would share my exciting happenings with you all now because I cannot fall back asleep.
Until next time,
~Jenny
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