Dear John/Habitat for Humanity

Hello fellow readers! I was chatting with some of my girlfriends on Saturday and they were telling me that I HAD to read Dear John before I saw the movie coming up in February. So, I obliged and have already finished the book! The author is Nicholas Sparks and I have decided I like the way he writes. He truly paints a picture for the reader, I could see each of the scenes in vivid images because of his writing. I really did like the book (love, special education, autism, troops, 9/11... what's not to like?). In the book (no spoilers I promise) Savannah, the heroine, is a special education major and is in North Carolina to work for Habitat for Humanity for the summer. When I read that I stopped and thought about the mission work I used to do with my church and my heart ached for that again. So I decided to be proactive! I am tired of being a person that says she wants to do something, gets really excited about it but then fails to do so. So right then at 1:30 in the morning I looked up the Dallas Habitat for Humanity and signed up! When I have a free weekend (I know.. that is saying a lot!) I will email the volunteer coordinator and then she tells me where to go! I am REALLY excited about this! ALSO, while I was on the website I saw that they have a global village, these are trips to everywhere in the world that has Habitat for Humanity communities. I was going to sign up for Poland but it turns out the dates won't work for me, so I have applied for Oregon and Alaska! I just told myself, Jennifer when the heck are you going to have another opportunity like this? You have the money and the time and no commitments, get the heck out of town and go help people! And hopefully if they pick me that is exactly what I will do! :-)
Here are some sites in case you want to go on a Habitat for Humanity Global Village trip:
http://www.habitat.org/gv/

Also, we think we have found our Mediterranean Cruise!
http://www.hollandamerica.com/find-cruise-vacation/CruiseDetails.action?startDate=&durationCode=&noOfFlexibleMonths=1&portCode=&shipCodeSearch=&flexibleMonths=false&pageNumber=0&endDate=&voyageCode=I033&destCode=E&dateCode=
I am crazy excited about it! We are going to do a few extra days in Rome before the cruise as well!

Another thing going on in my life is that starting in February I am going to be back on the job search. It's looking pretty tough out there, most school districts aren't even having career fairs, so prayers would be greatly appreciated! I know that I am qualified, I just hope that I get a job where I want to be.

OH! About my job right now, in case you haven't seen on facebook I got a grade 2 concussion at work the Thursday we came back from the break. I don't think I can go into details on here so if you want to know call me :-) but I am finally going to be able to go back to work this Friday. I am very happy about that because as I am sure you know, I'm not very good at laying around and resting.

I have decided that I am going to read more! I LOVE reading and because of work I haven't been reading since this summer and I decided enough is enough, I need to enjoy my life and not be consumed by my job. I went to Barnes & Noble today and bought several books. I am VERY excited about my selections and I will write reviews about them when I am done with each. :-)

I don't have a full update on Mom, we meet with the doctor tomorrow to get the results from the scan. This is the first scan since we found out about the cancer coming back. I'll let you know the results. :-)

I know there are a lot of smilies and "excited" statements in here, I have just decided that life is what you make of it and I am not going to dwell on the crappy things that have happened in the past 8 months. I am going to make my life what I want it, a life that helps others and focuses on learning about the world.

Love you all and I hope you are doing well! :-)

Goodbye 2009! Hello 2010!

I am CRAZY excited about a new year! Instead of dwelling on this past year (which was not the best year ever to say the least) I am going to list all of the wonderful things that will be occurring in the good ol 2010.

* Mom will be in remission (keep praying for this!).
* NICK MOVES TO DALLAS!!!!
* Finishing my year at Yale.
* Getting a summer job at a special needs camp!
* Taking a photography and/or art class at a community college this summer.
* Either at another job or in grad school starting in August.
* Going on a Mediterranean cruise with some of my family.
* Taking a trip on spring break (place to be determined).
* Celebrating several weddings with some lovely people (Jet & Shara, Cam & April, Julie & Chris).
* (Maybe) Trip to Orlando, Florida to go to the Harry Potter amusement park!
* Visiting Amanda wherever she studies abroad.
* Possible trips: Las Vegas, Washington D.C., Seattle, Monterrey, Colorado
* Having my own apartment in the big D.
* Possibly getting a new brother for Bear.
* Camping trip to Oklahoma with Nick! (this was my Christmas present!)
* Camping trip with friends.. possibly to Enchanted Rock? Any other suggestions? haha

Well that is just what I have planned so far for the year, as my life has taught me, you can't plan for much of life, but man do I sure as heck try.

Things are getting better. I am learning to try to leave work at work. I am going to enjoy my life and not make it completely about what happens from 7-4/5. I have also promised myself that this year I am not going to stay past 5pm and I am not bringing any work home. PERIOD. That's already a 10 hour day and to stay sane I can't do more than that.

I am very excited about all of the Texas weekends I will have with my wonderful friends and boyfriend. :-) This year promises to be a great one... just need to have the right attitude throughout the messy times. :-)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!