Nutshell

Hello, everybody! It's Jenna Lyn, remember me? It's been so long! I must begin this post with a most sincere apology- to all of you who so faithfully read my blog- for neglecting you all for such a long time! I have so much to tell you! Sit back and relax as I recap the last two weeks of my busy, busy, busy, life!

As for the GOP Convention.....
I hope you ALL watched it! It was simply AMAZING! Both sides of this election are going for gold, and they sure are doing a great job! It's such an intense race! But I must say, Giuliani’s speech then followed by Sarah Palin's speech was the highlight of the whole Republican convention. What a wonderful choice of VP by McCain! Oh, my goodness, I WISH I COULD VOTE!

As for the Youth Group Canoe trip....
The canoe trip was pretty good, but I don't think it was necessarily the best day for my family and the mission kids that rode with us in the van. But when we were out on the water, my soul could not help but be in a peaceful rest. Witnessing God's beauty first hand like that is simply breathtaking. But all in all, it was a pretty crazy stressful day. It seemed like everything that could have gone wrong- did go wrong. But one little BLESSING (or love note!) from God was on the ride home from the canoe trip. Karis was driving all of the mission kids straight home to the HQ building instead of staying with the other youth group vehicles and going all the way back to the church. Our van was full of seven, tired, stressed-out, teenagers. What happens next? Yup, you guessed it. We had a tire blow out. Ugh! But don't worry, because that was also the blessing part of our day as well, remember? The reason why it was a blessing was because I had seen my daddy change a tire once before, so I knew how to do everything! It was very dangerous though; there was no place in sight to get our van on level ground, and if that's not scary enough the ground was also kind of sloshy from the excessive rain fall. But, through it all, the Lord protected us, and we were able to successfully change the tire all by ourselves! Right as we took the jack out from under the van a road ranger dude stopped by with his truck and gave us some strange soapy stuff to wash off our hands and arms, perfect timing! So I'm pretty sure we were all proud of ourselves- and it had made a lovely memory.

As for the following day- the Labor Day Picnic!
The picnic was nice, but the highlight of the day was in the morning when I bought a new guitar! Yay! It's lovely and sounds beautiful! Now Tyler and I each have a guitar to play on, so that we can play together.

As for all the CHANGE this year...
Ugh. There is too much of it! The Caley's left us, and now Cha-Chi is moving as well! There is a LOT of changes this year. Being home, instead of going to school- that's a big change in itself. Teaching- believe it or not, that's a huge change! The kids and I are all still trying to get the hang of things. But I'm also still trying to get the hang of doing my own school work. Not to mention being slightly stressed about my future. There are a lot of questions that have yet to be answered. I would like to go to NTBI where Shane is going. If I finish my eleven credits this year, I only need eight more to graduate. Should I finish up those last eight credits my junior year and then work through my senior year saving money, then go to Waukesha? After those two years should I come back to Florida to get my teaching degree? Should I split my remaining credits and dual-enroll my last two years of high school, then go to Bible school, then come back for my last three years of college? Should I just go ahead and graduate early, do two years of SCC, two years of UCF and then go on to Wisconsin? Ugh. Too many questions, too many pressures. Also, I'm kind of the only kid in the B family that has the opportunity to actually go to a good college, so that is a little pressure on me as well. Anyway, none of this pressure or stresses is coming from any one else, it's just kind of all in my head. But hey, you could pray for me anyway! =)

As for ministries this year...
That's a problem. I feel completely disconnected from church this year. I've been working in Children's church since I was in fifth grade- and after doing it for such a long time it's just become like a part of me. I love it- playing crazy games, leading the songs with fun motions, leading small groups... I've been doing all of this since fifth grade! And I was ready and excited for it to start back up again this school year. But, I felt like that wasn't where God wanted me this year, so I backed out. Same thing with Awana- been helping out since I myself got out of the club- but this year, I didn't feel like that was where I was supposed to be. Now I am left with no ministries at church. Hmmm... But now that everything has started this year I am already feeling overwhelmed- with teaching, my own school work, and all the CHANGES- and very grateful that I didn't sign up for some of my usual church ministries. God's doing something BIG in my life this year- I just haven't figured out where it is all headed. =)

So, there you go, Jenna’s life in a nutshell! Thanks for taking the time to read such a lengthy post; have a lovely evening!

Spelling!

Ok everybody, raise your hand every time you hear me say a word that begins with the letter Nn!

face?
leg?
nose? (all hands go up!)
paper?
Nathan? (you're doing great!)
snack?
tissue?
cat?
note? (great job!)
..............................................
"Ok, now who wants to come up and underline one word on the board that begins with a capital N?"
..............................................
Oh man, I am having so much fun in my spelling class!
My most favoritest class is art. We get to made cotton ball bunnies!
..............................................
Anyway, school is quite the load this year. Not only am I teaching six classes a week, but I also have eleven of my own credits! But don't worry guys, I'm having a blast =)

You just wish you were in my first and second grade classes too!

Tears

I must say, I did cry a few tears today. It was wonderful.

A lot of different things had been building up, and then finding out about the death of sweet baby James, I just had to cry. I never met little James, but the enthusiasm in Jessie's voice when she would talk about him intrigued me, so I had began reading his blog. http://www.sweetbabyjames.info/wordpress/

Yesterday wasn't exactly a good day for me, so the grief and the pain of this morning didn't make for me the best of mixtures. I feel like the whole day just slipped between my fingers and was completely wasted. I think the only good thing that I accomplished this lovely day was that I drank a pot of peach tea. The yummy tea was a special treat to brighten my gloomy day =)

I never cry, though. It seems strange not to cry—I mean come on—I’m a girl, right? But I rarely do get to cry, and when I do, it is more just like a couple glistening tears down my cheek, no emotional release. Tears are a gift straight from God; I just haven't achieved a real knack for it yet.

The Storm

Are we blessed or what? Sarah calls it overwhelming, and I can find no other word to describe the feeling when we look back on our day and think of all the good. Considering that "every good and perfect gift is from the Father," it's just like WOW. No one has ever given me so many gifts in my life! He must like us very much!

This lovely storm is just one more example of how wonderfully beautiful the Lord is. Whoa, back-up a little, what storm? Tropical Storm Fay, of course! It has brought us so much joy! Last night was our storm party. It was so delightful! The most fun was actually before the party, while we were making all the food. Brownies, rice crispy treats, cookies, cup cakes... Yup, we make sure to embrace EVERY opportunity for a party! After the movie on the big screen in the chapel we made our way up the third floor. Then the rest of the evening was spent cleaning a single mans' apartment. Saying that it was a devastating mess would be a major understatement. But, by 1:30am it was sparkling clean! =)

Back to the storm... I started school on Monday, and it has just been splendid! But today was especially sensational! Fay has created the most perfect atmosphere, and very conducive to learning I must add. Today I did all my ugly work before lunch (geometry, grammar, biology...), so that I could spend the rest of the afternoon doing the fun stuff - reading! With the wind and the rain beating on my window, it sounded like God was playing music just for ME! I sat down with my popcorn and hot chocolate for the most perfect afternoon!

Back to the storm... this evening I was aroused from playing guitar by hearing my name shouted repeatedly through all the noise of the storm. I looked out my window to find a couple of drenched people from the building standing below my window beckoning me to come out. So, as duty called, I rounded up a couple more people to go outside and play in the rain with us. Singing, dancing, swinging, running, frolicking, sliding, skipping- thus the like of an MK. After awhile our faces and necks really started feeling the pain of the needle-like rain drops; so we went swimming. We were already wet anyway.

It’s all just so beautiful. Ahh. I just can't seem to get enough of the wind and the rain slapping my window. It's just little kisses from Daddy reminding us of His abundant love for each and every one of us.

A lovely storm indeed...

Raspberry Tea

I really want it. I just can't do it. I made some raspberry tea. I made a lot and only drank a little; meaning that the rest is still in the kitchen. Well, now, I want more. The problem is that mother is sleeping in her room, leaving me no way to get to the kitchen, except to go out the house by way of the boys' room, through the stairwell, down the hall, and around the corner. This is a very excruciating trek to be made in the middle of the afternoon, thus I forfeit, and am left here dreaming of instead of drink up my delicious raspberry tea.

I am still trying to catch up on sleep after the girl’s night at Jessie's house. Pride and Prejudice is one of my all time favorites, and I was so excited to see it again! Thank God for Jessie's family opening up their house to us! It was a lovely evening. Complete with Swedish Fish and Sour Patch Kids. So I'm running slightly low on sleep, and I can't seem to make it up. The late night Olympics isn't helping much either. Also, this morning I had to wake up early to say good bye to Leah (Cha-Chi's older sister) as she begins her new life at Jackson.

I really do hate goodbyes. Two of my bestest friends left for NTBI last week, and now Leah has gone as well. Ugh. Everybody's growing up.

I'm so very tired. I hope there is still tea left by the time I am able to gather my strength. But how can I gather enough strength to get me to the kitchen, if I have nothing to replenish my fluids and rejuvenate me?

I'm a working woman now, you know. I need my strength. Just a short while ago I got back from first and second grade "Math Games" at the small New Tribes school. I'll be teaching six classes every week this year, and I am very excited!

I know Tyler is in the kitchen right now because he just called me. He was trying to get a hold of Karis, but accidentally dialed the wrong number. I hope he doesn't drink the rest of my tea. I can just see it now... He tilts the little white tea pot and into his daisy cup pours my raspberry flavored, slightly bitter, rose colored, lovable liquid. This must not happen! I must get in there. In vain I have struggled, it will not do, my feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to….

Ay, mother is awake now! I shall go drink my tea this very minute, goodbye!

Emo-Goth-Punk Day!

Oh yes, another MK holiday. Not quite sure who came up with this one, but everybody is required to participate. Emo-Goth-Punk Day means that we all dress up scary, then go to various locations to take picutures. I was the least dressed up out of anybody there, but I think we could all agree that Tyler was the best looking punk. I'll post some pictures whenever I get the pictures. Also, for the latest Mission Gossip: A new girl moved in on the 2nd floor. She seems pretty cool- she sings, drinks tea, and said she'd love to join me on my sunrise adventures. Yea!

Stay off the road!

"Wake up, Jenna! Salem needs more pictures of the family, dress nice!" Ugh. You've gotta be kidding! Turned out to be a lot of fun taking the pictures though, so I'm not complaining!
Anyway, yesterday I went and looked at the apartment Karis is interested in; and it was so adorable! And I got my drivers permit! Yea! I skipped the whole "parking lot practice" step, and just drove home in the stick shift. Oh, yeah! Ok, so I didn't drive ALL the way home, I just took over the wheel when we got to 2nd street. Yea!
Also, you must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love my Tyler. (No, not YOUR Tyler, MY Tyler!) He's such a sweet kid! He was talking on the phone when Karis and I arrived home last night, and immediately he told his friend that he had to go because his sisters were home. Then he just sat down and wanted to hear everything that had happened, everything about Karis's job, apartment, my permit, Dunkin Donuts, everything! I just thought it was so cute how estatic he was about everything in K's and my day. When he prayed over our food at dinner he just happened to thank the Lord for all of the blessings showered upon each one of his siblings, but was perfectly content with not mentioning anything about himself. It's so evident how selfless he is and how much he genuinely cares for everybody else. Four Brownie Points to Tyler!

Alright, I must stop my bragging on this stunning young Gent, that just so happens to be related to me, because I have a lot of reading to do before bedtime. G'night!

Human Slurpees?

I had a terrible nightmare last night. Well, some people might not categorize my dream as a "nightmare," but I thought it was pretty scary. Promise not to laugh? Good. Ok, story time with Jenna Lyn is now in session. So I think I was visiting my friend's church when all of a sudden I found myself in a big cold room. Apparently this church grows in numbers so rapidly that they have an annual slurpee making event- the only catch is that they are making human slurpees. Sounds kind of strange? What kind of church would eliminate their youth group by making the teens into slurpees?! Well don't look at me, I was the victim! Ok, so back to the story. They locked all of us into this large, white, cold, room. Then they began the slurpee making. Big scary drills and spikes started coming out of all of the walls, so we had to dodge them. It was getting more and more risky every step we took, and, obviously, getting more and more scary. But! Don't loose hope my fellow bloggers! I have not been turned into a slurpee after all! Because of my mucho muki-muki I was able to pull myself up onto a tall stack of chairs, thus escaping the tragic death of being made into a slurpee! Yea! Oh yes, I did forget one detail. When I took refuge on the stack of chairs, I did also save Aleah by helping her up too! I'm not really quite sure where she came into my dream, but rest assured, we are both safe now! YEA!

Can any one of you interpret dreams?

Lani Day

"It's way too early to be doing this, Jenna!" I said to myself this morning, as I cheerfully sprang out of bed to beat the sun! Last night around 1:00am I carefully made my breakfast, so it would be all ready to grab when I woke up. I wanted to see the sunrise! It was a glorious morning. I brought out my blanket, my Bible, and my breakfast, to the back porch of the mission. I ran for a little while, and then got to sit, relax, read, and eat. So much fun! After an hour of paradise I retreated back to my bed to finish up my nights rest. I then re-awoke at eleven for second breakfast. A splendid way to start the holiday!
Now incase you all were not aware of it, allow me to enlighten you. Today is Lani Day! It is a National Holiday observed most strictly by all upright citizens of the US - that is - me and my circle of friends.
To begin the celebrating we had a picnic in the orange grove. (Yes, Jessie, we did indeed have a picnic basket!) Swimming, back to my place, Beverly Hillbillys, over to the Homes for Tededae, Lani's house, then back to my place to eat Tacos, a nice evening stroll along the lake, and then we showed the movie Aladin followed by The Little Mermaid. Oh, what a day! Now my question for you: how did you celebrate Lani Day?

Buh-Bye!

Camp!

Back from camp everybody! I was kinda hoping it would be a nice vacation from life, but despite my efforts, life seemed to hunt me down even in TN. But hey, it really wasn't too bad. It was acually a pretty good week. We had alot of fun at the water park and the rope courses. The worship was absolutely amazing; it was Jeff Johnson! Now Karis and Shane saw him at a camp in Texas when they were like in middle school, and we've been listening to him ever since! He does some really good worship music. The speakers were pretty good too! But the thing that I loved the most about this week was the bus ride home. Now you must understand that because of everything that has happened in our family lately, I have just been feeling kind of numb the past couple weeks. I'm not quite sure that will make any sense to most of you. But it's just like my emotions shut down, and I feel like I've been slowly drowning. So the camp itself wasn't exactly the most growing experience this year, because I was still feeling, for lack of a better word, numb. But on the bus ride home, I sat next to Josh, the Youth Pastor. And the two of us started talking, and we talked and talked and talked. It was really neat. God really used him to help me begin the process of healing I have desired for such a long time. Yea! Also when I arrived home, I walked into a freshly painted bedroom! What a splendid surprise! Turns out that Jessie and some of the girls came over while we were at camp and painted my room light blue and brown! It looks lovely!

Slurpees!

Well, I must begin this post with a most sincere apology. I am so very sorry that I have neglected you all for such a long time! It's just that life has been pretty crazy 'round here. I'll just give you a short review of some of the things that have happened recently: There was a couple movie nights; couple parties; the Mexico lunch; couple big beautiful thunder storms; many long nights sitting in my "office," we had a music night; Megan ate an onion; I started learning guitar; I scored thirty points bowling; Ryan, Hannah, and lil’ Riley came down for a sweet visit; we watched lovely fireworks; went to Rock Springs; Karis moved into her new room; Jessie, Tali, and Kelly finally got home; but most importantly, yesterday…. WE GOT SLURPEES! Yea for 7Eleven! We hit up 13 7Eleven’s for slurpees! But yesterday also just so happened to be Cow Appreciation Day! So after slurpee hopping we all dressed up like cows to collect our free meals from three different Chik-Fil-A’s, Yea! I must say, I can’t wail till next July 7th!
Anyway, my biggest, bestest, news to tell is that I’m going to be homeschooled this year! YEA!!! I’m so excited; I can’t wait to be homeschooled!

Oh yes, we also leave for camp tomorrow, Yea!

Home again

Well now, I'm back! Been home for quite a while, but been really busy. The Jersey Shore trip was the most amazing week of my life! We had so much fun - just MKs. We danced every evening! Just about the funnest times ever is when we're all dancing. We love all the Irish dancing, line dancing, but most of all - SWING DANCING! Yesyes, we did indeed have LOTS fun. I just loved looking at the stars. That was one of the highlights of my trip. The stars in the hills of Pennsylvania are simply glorious. I stayed up till 3am of the last days – lying on the grass, just trying to soak up all the stargazing I could before returning home to starless Florida! Anyway, the major thing that made this just so different from other church camps and whatnot is just that everyone there seemed to be so totally focused on God; it was the most amazing thing I had ever experienced. Sixty MK's from all over (I mean ALL over! There were kids who flew in from Brasil, Bolivia, and so on...) just all coming together to grow, hang out, encourage, and worship. It was a marvelous week - I wish everyone could experience it!

Also- The Mexico team has been back- Praise God! Shane is home- Whoohoo! And I'm trying to get my drivers permit (a task that I had been putting off)! Yea!
Alright, that there is a short update of my life. Enjoy!

Goodbye!

It's been a pretty crazy week here, but tomorrow morning I'm leaving bright and early for Jersey Shore, PA! The MK retreat is this week, so I'll be gone for the next nine days. I'm so excited for this trip! Actually, I think I'm more excited about the road trip, than actually being at the retreat. I know it will all be a blast, but there is just something so relaxing about road trips! Anyway, it'll be three days driving, and then the retreat itself is a full six days. So I won't be around for a while, but I'll be having a blast! Oh yah, and we are going to Rickets Glenn! How exciting! I still remember that place from when I was four years old, and now I get to relive those days with hiking and a picnic! See you all later!

P.S. Keep praying for Mexico!

Missing my Megan!

So Thursday was the last day of school! Whoohoo!
Friday... Mexico kids left! Oh! So sad! But I'm so very excited for all that they will be doing and learning! I can't wait to hear EVERYTHING!
Also, Karis's graduation! Yay! Followed by Cranes Roost -- funfun! Got some good videos and pictures! Also some nice star gazing; while lying on the luscious green grass along side the lake of shining wates!
MK Prom was Saturday evening! It was simply marvelous! No dates, so nothing was awkward, just having fun with friends! Can't wait for next year! And I'm pretty sure that Tyler danced with every girl in the room at least twice! I must also add that Icardi was quite the stud as well!
Simple, peaceful, Sunday. But with no youth group tonight, we went to the Icardi's house and prayed for our lil' Mexicanites! We love you!
Now about Megan....
I keep looking down the hallway, to go knock on Megan's door, but then I remember she's not there! I keep turning into her hallway, or putting my ear to the wall to see what she's up to, or stopping at her bedroom door, thinking I'll stop by and say Hi, or tell her one of my many stories; but then I remember...
SHE'S GONE!!!!!!!!!!
Now this being the third day she's been out of my life, I have actually caught myself, thinking about her like she's dead! I know it's really weird, and it’s a little hard to explain, but I'll try my best.
I keep having to remind myself that she is gone; I keep wanting to do things, and then can't, because I don't want to do it without her; all this random stuff, but I have to remind myself that she is gone so much, that it's become like she's not even gonna be coming back! After three looooooong days of grinding it into my mind that she is gone, now I'm beginning to have to remind myself that she will be coming back! Ok, I can see now that no matter how much I attempt to explain this phenomenon, no one will understand. I think that the true point is that I miss Megan. We ALL miss Megan! Hey Megan, I think you better hurry up and come back before I catch myself planning your funeral!
Ok, thats all! =)

Drippy Jeans...

DRIP... DRIP... drip-drip...
mmmh, I love the sound!
As I got home from Jessie's house, I was lovingly pushed into the pool by Karis and Andrew. Oh, the water was so delightful! Now as I sit here blogging, I can just barely hear the sound of the water dripping off the ripped ends of my jeans into the bottom of the bath tub, how exciting! And speaking of my bathroom-- Today the large pair of pliers that serves the purpose of a door knob, from the inside of my elegant bathroom, came off! This did indeed leave me stranded inside the bathroom till I used my great skills and mucho muki muki to reconstruct the masterful door knob likeness. What an adventure!
To add a special touch to my day, I also blurted out 11 correct answers while watching Jeopardy today during dinner! See kids, this is why we study so hard in school! And speaking of studying, that’s what I should be doing right now! See ya!

Bird Calls

It's Thursday! Tomorrow is the last day of "real" school, because next week is just semester exams! Whoohoo! Yah, a little bit of prayer for the tests, please! But for anyone that has been worried, I've been doing pretty good, and its looking like I'm going to pass ninth grade! I know it seems kinda stupid to be getting such bad grades, but with everything with Karis, my head just wasn't really in my school work for a long time, and then it was just hard for me to catch up. But it's all good now, school's almost over!
I got in trouble during class for doing bird calls. Karis walked into the classroom, and so I tried to get her attention. Now obviously you don't just stand up in the middle of class to flag down your sister, so I thought I'd just try out some of my bird calls =) it worked too! It was great fun! But don't worry, the teacher still loves me. =)
We finished up Romans today! We held a Bible study pretty late last night, we didn't finish till well after ten I think. And then today we studied the last two chapters. Sorry you couldn't be there Megan, we missed you! Anyway, I just love Paul. Great fun.

For anyone who was wondering, the tv show the Office does not come on tonight. Acually the season Finale was last Thursday; which I missed because I was at Jessie's party. Way to go Jess, thanks a lot! =)
I'm pretty sure I'm rambling about random things now, so I think I'll go. Tyler is down stairs playing the piano, so I'll go be with him now. See ya!

Worship....

So worship night at youth group was amazing, wouldn't you agree? They really did a lovely job pulling all of that together. It really helped me to relax after such a stressful week.

With a slight change of subject here, for any of you that don't know, us MK's bond very quickly, and one of the ways that I feel we bond the most is through music. When we get together and hang out, we are usually congregated around a piano or guitar, simply singing to the Lord. Now this is just about my most favoritest thing in the entire world. It's my bestest stress reliever.

Tuesday's is usually when we have to opportunity to do this. And guess what? Today is Tuesday! So Karis, Megan, Sarah, Cha-chi, and I stood around as Tyler played the piano. Oh yes, a lovely way to end the evening.

Have I ever mentioned how ardently I admire and love my brother? Well I do. He has such a marvelous talent, and it brings us so much joy all the time. I love him!

And that is all I have to say about Tuesday!

Fast Paced

Well hello there! I guess I'm not being very faithful with this whole blogging thing; but life right now is just too crazy! Every single day is just so fast paced, it’s kinda hard to keep up with anything! Seems like everybody is graduating this year; and although I'm so very excited for them, it’s also just a little sad.
But right now I'm just trying to keep up with life one day at a time; because when I look just one day ahead on the calendar, the many ink marks seems to instantly stress me out. But all this to say, I just love Sundays! =) I'm so glad that we have one day set aside for rest! My Sunday afternoon schedule consists of going to church in the morning, then Wendy's for lunch, coming home for Jill Holmgren's Bible study (which is the highlight of my week), then a short nap, tea and snack with my mommy, and on to start the evening! That’s what I love about Sundays.... Now today we were unable to finish the chapter we were reading at the Bible Study, so we set up a time on Wednesday to meet, which makes me very happy! Well, we're about to eat dinner, and Tyler wants to watch Enchanted, so I gotta run now. Goodbye!

Playing Hooky!

I'm not at school right now. I'm playing hooky! I'm kinda sick. Actually I'm always sick; I’m a very sickly child. But today i decided to stay home. I kinda needed a day to rest. My life is so "go, go, go" that I never find time to rest; so today is just a ME day! My mommy and I have been hanging out! She's been asking me to stay home from school, but every day it seems like there is just some reason why i just have go; like one day I’ll have to give a presentation, i need to be there for someone’s birthday, I’ll miss a test review, or Josh and Jessie are coming to lunch..... Just random things come up, so I tell my mom that i can't miss that day. But today seemed like a good day to skip, and I’m feeling awfully sick. So yes, this is how I ended up sitting here blogging. I feel so powerful not going to school! Sleeping in was nice too!
I gotta go now, we're gonna watch a chick flick!

Heya!

So this is pretty nice. I've tried other blogs before, had them a couple years, and then got bored of them. But Megan told me that this was the best one, so I thought I'd give it a try. I'm not very good with computers and all that technical stuff, so I'm still trying to figure this whole thing out. And when Megan was explaining everything to me I wasn't really listening. =) Anyway, so can I leave comments to myself? Seems pretty fun! (As if I don't talk to myself enough!) But now ya'll can read it too. Ok, Buh-Bye!