sun, i love you.

This is the weather we've been having lately:

It's pretty!  But brrrrrr.

So we were oh so happy when the 

sun decided to grace us with his presence!  

Ariel & I have been having picnics between classes :)

P.S. I'm addicted to spinach wraps from L&T. 

ariel's birthday!

This was such a good weekend, not only because of general conference and Easter, but because of Ariel's 19th birthday on Saturday.  We had a birthday celebration/girls night and it was soOoOoOoo much fun!  I hope you had a good birthday, Ariel!  Thanks for everything.  I know we joke about how we survived 18 years without each other, but really, I don't know what my life would be without you.

Other news: School is wrapping up--only 7 days left before finals--and we're all feeling stressed around here.  I've been immersed in writing a paper about Eugene O'Neill's play, "Long Day's Journey Into Night."  Harold Curlman said, "O'Neill not only lived intensely but attempted with perilous honesty to contemplate, absorb and digest the meaning of his life and ours."  Tell me about it!!  I just wish he came to happier conclusions.  I don't believe we're helpless victims.  And I'm trying to find evidence in this play that O'Neill didn't believe that either.  BAH! 

happy easter sunday!

Today we celebrate our Savior's perfect life, death, and resurrection.  Jesus said, "Because I live, ye shall live also" (John 14:19).   I'm so thankful for what He has done for me!  I'll never be able to repay Him, but as a Christian I can always ask myself what it means to be a follower of Christ.  It's remembering Him, keeping His commandments, and learning to love people the way He does.  I hope you have a Happy Easter :)  You can read an Easter message that I really enjoy here.

photo: Simon Dewey's painting, "He Lives"

it's cold.

alice in wonderland.

My dad gave me this magnet when I went to college <3

Hollywood produces too much trash.  So I’m really excited to tell you that “Alice In Wonderland” is amazing!! I’m biased cause I love Tim Burton & Johnny Depp—but even Jordan, who didn’t think he’d like the movie cause it looked “creepy,” really enjoyed it.  

The acting, of course, was phenomenal.  (I'm excited to see Mia Wasikowska in “Jane Eyre”).  The filmmakers did an excellent job creating Wonderland—I was particularly fond of all the fuzzy animals running around all over the place.  The plot was good and the message was cute.  I loved it when Alice announced, “This is MY dream; I decide what happens.”  Go see this movie!! :D

a day with jordan.

Today after my classes, Jordan came to visit.  It was the last time I'll see him before he leaves for his mission--I'm gonna miss this boy! We had a really nice day, even though it was snowing!!  (Please come soon, warm weather.)  We went shopping, played mini golf, went to Salt Lake, saw "Alice In Wonderland," and ate at Red Lobster.  The best part was just having all day to talk and catch up--Jordan and I don't see each other very often, but whenever we do, we always pick up where we left off.  Don't you love people in your life who are like that?  Certain things change as your lives move in different directions, but your friendship stays the same.

a spiritual weekend.

Since it was the weekend before Easter, there were a lot of activities going on around campus that helped me focus on Jesus and prepare to celebrate the true meaning of Easter--Christ's sacrifice for us--this upcoming Sunday.

Ariel and I woke up early Saturday morning to go to the Provo temple. Then we went to BYU's Easter Conference.  We got to hear speakers and listen to some beautiful music numbers.  My favorite talks were entitled "Worshipping Christ" and "What the Atonement Meant for Jesus."  After the conference, Ariel and I spent the day in the library, and that night we went to a Passover Seder Service.  I've never celebrated the Passover before, so I learned a lot!  It was really cool participating in the whole ceremony.

Sunday I went to church as usual, and later that night there was a special devotional where we heard from Doctor Skinner, a professor of ancient scripture here at BYU.  He spoke about The Last Supper and focused on John, chapters 13-17.

This whole weekend was really special.  It reminded me I need to be better about keeping the Savior in my thoughts each day.  I'm really excited to celebrate Easter this weekend.  I hope we can all remember the true meaning of the holiday, and think about what Jesus Christ means personally to each of us.

crushes.

I'm not sure who I love more--Gilbert Blythe or Mr. Darcy. 

you two.

i love you two.  you make me laugh.  

kate and shalane got in an accident driving back home to idaho on sunday.  kate fell asleep while driving.  she had been going 80 mph (cause the speed limit was 75) and she ran off the road into a ditch.  it's amazing that the girls are alright for the most part--shalane came out fine and kaitlin is better than she should be considering the accident's impact.  she fractured her back and will be a in a brace for 6 weeks. after she gets the brace off she will have to go 2-3 months with no physically straining activity.  this is really good news, because it could have been much worse.  we have been saying a lot of prayers of gratitude lately.  

do you believe in angels?  we do!  

i'm so glad my sisters are okay.

i don't wanna say goodbye to these faces:

family visit.

my family came to visit this weekend! it was the best weekend i've had in a long time.

we went shopping.

we saw BYU perform Shakespeare's "As You Like It."

we got to hang out with Ariel a little bit. 

we ate yummy food. 

we laughed a lot. 

it was the best :) 

hanging out with them is a party! 

buying oranges at "rancho market." 7 lbs for $1.  no, i'm not kidding. crazy!

kate opening the prize she bought for 50 cents. it's a squishy, purple thing!  

shalane keeping me updated on new music.

kate wearing her weird sunflower thing.

flashbacks.

pics i found on my cell phone...

the journalism women proclaim their love to Jordan Steele. 

three-legged monster pizza.

tiff and court take disgusting pics of themselves on my phone.

tiff and court try to make gordo stop being emo. 

brock reads a story. 

korey and i try to be attractive.

trevor, molly, and i sell ducks outside albertson's.

weekend.

{this weekend}
1.  Shayna came to Utah to check out USU and BYU.  I was very happy to see her :)  I showed her around campus and then Kaylene (Shayna's mom) took us to PF Chang's for lunch.  I didn't take any pics, so I thought I'd post these.  They make me incredibly happy--memories from last summer!

2.  I had way too much fun at "Good Earth," a health food store here in Provo.  Bought some things for my pantry.

3.  I recently read that Henry James developed what he described in one of his novels as the "practice of wondering and dawdling and gaping."  I'm pretty sure I'm also developing this practice, because I feel like I could spend all day just walking around, enjoying nature.  Sunday afternoon before the CES devotional, Dallas and I went for a walk.

God loves me.

Today has been wonderful so far, thanks to church.
 Yes, I love church. It is the most important part of my week. 

 Lately I've felt like I can't do anything right,
so today I felt peace as I was reminded of God's love for me.  

kenyon's mission call.

another friend just got his mission call.

Kenyon is going to the Johannesburg South Africa mission!

He leaves July 7th. 

He'll be learning 4 languages

and going to 3 countries.

He said, "Seriously, it's so Gnar."

And I agree.  I'm slightly jealous :)

-photo of Kenyon-

jordan's mission call.

Jordan just got his mission call!
On April 14th

He's going to Indianapolis, Indiana
to serve a two-year LDS mission.

-Which is sweet, cause when my family lived in Kentucky 

we were only five minutes from the Indiana border-

It's a pretty awesome place.

Congrats, Jordan! FH. haha.
You'll be an amazing missionary. 

{happy list}

When I'm feeling a little weird about life

I know it's time to make a happy list :D

-photo of sisters shalane & kaitlin-

Jenna’s Happy List

waking up early

picnics 

bicycles

holding babies

reading a book with a cat curled up beside me

workouts

fruit smoothies

love notes

the relief I feel after taking a test

farmers markets

fresh bread 

gardens

photographs

friendly people

hot weather

layin on the trampoline & looking at the stars
races

fhe olympics.

Mormons have this thing called "Family Home Evening," aka FHE, where every Monday night we spend time with our families.  We have a spiritual lesson and some kind of activity.  

Since we don't have our families here at college, we have our own FHE groups made up of students.  I love my group!  So much fun!  Last night we combined with another group and had "olympics"--competitions like rock/paper/ scissors, limbo, and sock wars.
Here's a video of the boys doing sock wars.
This makes me laugh so much.