Home, once again

Hello, blogging community!

These last couple weeks have been full of fun and adventure for me!  :)  I got to go camping in the Adirondacks with my family, which we haven't done in quite a few years.  And!  OH, boy!  Here's the really exciting part!  My aunt invited me to stay with her for a week.  She lives in Alexandria, VA, so I was able to spend the week touring Washington, DC, taking pictures, and going on excellent tours.  It was so much fun!  Not to mention, my aunt and I went to a spa and got manis, pedis, and we got our hair done!  Talk about getting spoiled!  Ha. Anyway, I had a blast, and now I'm back home in New York.  And, I've come back with a renewed energy and resolve for finally cleaning out my room and getting rid of all the extra stuff I have cluttering it all up.  It's been so hard to do!  But, I'm honestly really glad that I'm finally doing it, and not just getting rid of a couple of things.  I still have a long way to go, but progress has definitely been made.  Yippee!  :)  And, soon I get to head back to school!  I'm so excited!  I can't wait to get to see my fiance again!  And all those friends I haven't seen in WAYYY too long!  Oh, boy!  Alright, signing off.  :)

Napping

So these last few days I've been on a mission to clean my room.  Also, to get rid of a bunch of things, and possibly sell some of it to help pay for my next semester.  It's been an arduous task, to say the least.  I think I've actually made more of a mess of my room than originally.  How is that even possible?!  I've cleaned my room out hard-core three times in the past week, because I have this problem with holding onto things.  I hold onto birthday cards, receipts, out-dated cell phone chargers, and various other 'trinkets,' but they have only caused me clutter.  So, I've been sifting through things each time I clean out my room, weeding out the stuff I can do without.  But, by the time I finish cleaning, I realize I haven't gotten rid of enough!  So I've gone through the process 3 times now in these past few days, and there's still so much junk that I need to let go of.  But I am seriously tuckered out from this task today, and I'm thinking I could use a nap.  But each time I go to lay down to rest, I look around and think of all the things I could do without.  I get out of bed to grab the trash bag and start again, but then I realize I could be napping.  It's this continual back-and-forth pull.  Ughhhh.  Maybe I do just need some sleep.  Then maybe I could start this process of discarding my unnecessary junk again without as much hesitation.  Yes.  I think I've sorted it out for now.  Thank you, blog, for offering yourself up again as a means of collecting my thoughts!

A New Post After Quite the Break..

It's been approximately... oh, 19 or so days since my last post.  Guess I just lost track of keeping up with the blog after my boyfriend came to town for a visit.  Anyway, there's just so much to update you all on!  These past two and a half weeks have been awesome and filled with all sorts of excitement.  Here are some pics to catch you up:

Day trip to Lake George.  It was such a beautiful day!

While at the Lake, my family thought it'd be fun to give me three fake parking tickets.  They're so cruel.  The worst part is that I actually fell for it, only to their excitement.  I actually started after this police officer; thankfully I couldn't catch up to him before my family got me back to let me know the tickets were fake.  Hahahaha.

A day at the park, on a picnic with my beautiful mom and lovely boyfriend.

July 4th at the state capital.  The fireworks display was absolutely amazing.

Watching the fireworks.  They were so bright that this picture looks like it was actually taken during the daytime!

My 21st birthday... I decided to try some wine.  Final conclusion: I am never drinking wine again- the stuff is disgusting.  I actually liked the coconut rum with pineapple juice, though- nice and fruity!

My boyfriend proposed a week after my birthday.  :)  The next day I was confined to my bed, more sick than I've ever been before.  I blame it on the cheesecake place he took me to before he proposed.  Never eating there again.

Hahaha.  I love him!  This was taken a few days after he proposed, shortly after we bought the ring together.  Such an exciting day!  And Chipotle to boot!!  Sweet.  :)

So, I think that pretty much sums up the past 2 1/2 weeks for me.  It's been exciting and wonderful to have my-now-fiance over, although I had to send him off to the bus station yesterday to head back home.  I'm still getting used to calling him something other than 'my boyfriend'.  Ha.  Anyway, there's my huge-super-fantastic-exciting news for y'all.  Thanks again for reading!

Hey la, Hey la~ My Boyfriend's Back!

So, my boyfriend comes for a visit today!!  But, before I can pick him up from the bus station, I have a baby shower to go to!  I spent my morning preparing a grade salad for one of my best friend's baby showers.  She's having twin boys!  It finally hit me just the other day when I was putting together her gift bag, that we're getting old!  I'll be turning 21 in just a week or so, and all my friends are getting married or having children!  I think that's insane how quickly it all comes up!  It seems like just last year when I was a naive high schooler.
Either way, I'm still really excited for my friend.  She's going to be a terrific, loving mother.  I sort of wish I was in her shoes!  Just a little.  But, I know the time to start a family will come, and I shouldn't try to fast-forward to anything if it's not time.
So, today is a very exciting day!  I can barely hold back my excitement!  I haven't seen a bunch of these friends in months, at least, so it'll be really nice to mingle again and see how everyone's holding up.  :)  And.... well, my boyfriend will be here tonight!!  Eeeee!!  I am SO excited.  Alright.  I can tell my sentences are getting short and repetitive, so I should probably sign off.  I blame all this excitement and my lack of sleep.  Goodbye!  :)

Hello, blogging world, once again!

It's been quite some time since my last post!  And I hadn't realized my lack of posting until just now!!  Oh, boy.

Well, the last few days have been quite fun.  I spent the weekend with my family, up at our summer camp.  Spent time visiting with my relatives, and I even got to see my older brother and sister-in-law.  So, that was a treat!  :)

I had a blast helping put down a new bamboo floor in the guest room.  And, now, it looks gorgeous!  I absolutely LOVE re-doing floors, because the outcome is so worth it!  I've helped tile floor in the past and strip old wood floors, but I'd never put down a wood floor before.  It was definitely a neat and worthwhile experience.

And, the weather was beautiful for a weekend on the lake.  It did rain once or twice, lightly though, but just enough to make everything nice and muddy.  Let's just say we all got covered with our fair share of mud!

The last couple days have been productive, but I just feel so exhausted all the time, it seems.  For some reason, for the past week I've been having these dreams every night.  And, I'm not one to remember dreaming much, except for those horrific dreams that stay with you.  So, having dreams and remembering dreaming for six nights in a row is something that I find somewhat out-of-the-ordinary.  And, it's been disturbing my sleep.  Hence, the exhaustion during the past few days.

What I'd like to know, is why all the dreams now?  And what on earth do they mean?!  I've had the most odd dreams, too!  Like, for example, turning into animals, going on a trip overseas with random people I've never met before, running from something (dunno what exactly~ but it seems to happen in the majority of these dreams...), discovering a massive museum in an Englishman's apartment, and working for some business-owner in Africa, just to list a few.  To me, they seem to be all over the place (quite literally, plot-wise).  Most of them, except for my most recent dream (the overseas trip to Singapore), all are connected with this theme of running from something.  I'd like to know what.  And why my last dream didn't have this particular piece.  Hmm... questions to consider, I guess.

Don't worry, faithful readers, if the dreams continue, I'll be sure to keep you in the loop!  Hah.  Oh, well.  Signing off for the night!

Jen

Pulling a BP...

So, I was headed out to this new Bible study group I've been wanting to join, and I was nearly there, when....

The car behind me flashed his bright lights.  I pulled over, not really sure (but having a slight idea) of why he was trying to catch my attention.  

"You're spraying gas everywhere!" he yells out his passenger window, after I pull over.  

"Thanks!" I yell back, annoyed that, once again, my car has decided to pull a temper tantrum.  

For the past few weeks, my car's smelled like gasoline when I start it up.  And, it did again yesterday when I went to leave home for the Bible study group I'd been waiting to attend.  But, this time the smell didn't go away... and neither did the gas, which was streaming from underneath my car.  So, needless to say, I ended up turning around to head back home.  Didn't get to check out my friend's group.  Maybe next week...

When I got home, my dad gave me some advice, and I went out there alone, in the dark to try and repair my gas line.  And.... I think I did it!!  I was so proud of myself!  I wound up driving it around the block a couple of times this morning, and I didn't smell (or see) any trace of gas!!  Soooooo, I'm thinking that's a good thing. For now, at least.

I ended up telling my boyfriend all about it.  Wanna know how he responded?!  Yes, he laughed at me.  Told me that I'd caught on to some sort of fad, I guess: first, BP spilling oil in the ocean; now me leaking gas all over the roads.  Ha.  Well, I'm just glad I was given the opportunity laugh after having so many car troubles lately.  

So, that was yesterday...  Today, hmmm.  Not much really happened today that I can recall.  Pretty sure I just spent the majority of the day being lazy.  Oh!  And I made fried rice for the first time tonight.  And it turned out really good!!  I was surprised, actually.  :)  So, I might be making that a bit more often.

Also, my younger brother is over for the next couple of days visiting.  And, tomorrow, I get to meet my other brother's girlfriend!  It should be a fun couple of days.

Alright, back to lazy land...

Up and about...

Today's already been a productive day, and it's only just after noon!  I went down to the fast food place, but they're "not hiring."  Ugh.  Whatever.  So, I went down the road a bit and picked up an application for this sub shop.  Maybe things will look up there...

Besides all that, I've been in this terrific "let's get stuff done!" mood.  Washed and brushed out the dog, did dishes and laundry, cleaned and swept the house a bit, and who knows what else.  So, yay for productivity.  Nay for getting turned away from a fast food restaurant!!!  Ayyy..  Oh, well.  Maybe I'll start to get some calls in a few days.  Or maybe this sub shop deal will work out.  I'm trying not to worry, because I do know that God's got it all planned out.  I've been setting up my own plans lately, like signing the lease for a house next fall and planning my life out.  But, if God doesn't want any of that for me, I know He's got much better things planned for me, that I could never dream of!  So, it may seem disappointing and nerve-racking right now, but in the end it's all going to play out better than I could have ever come up with myself.  All for His glory!!

So, I'm still looking forward to going to this Bible study tonight.  And.... I'm still nervous!  Darn these nerves and this stomach, and this brain that comes up with ridiculous circumstances that cause all this nervousness and worry!  :)  I'm sure that after tonight, I'll be much more at ease and at peace with the way things are looking.

Signing off for now,
Jen