Wish List

In honor of the commencement of my birthday month (and to keep up the wish list tradition) here's my random list of things I think would be cool to get. In no particular order, my wish list:

-Gift certificates (iTunes, Red Robin, Old Navy, On The Border, Starbucks, Target, Walmart, Best Buy, Ross, Barnes & Noble, movie theater, etc)
-Massage
-Flowers
-Diet Dr. Pepper with limes
-A mixed CD with your favorite music. I love mixes!
-A cake decorating class
-New battery for the MacBook
-A 52 inch flat screen TV
-A trip (Washington DC, San Francisco, Seattle, New York, Hawaii, Europe, India, South Africa, etc)
-A cheesy picnic in Lions Park
-Homemade card
-Dove Dark Chocolate
-Oil change
-Batteries
-CDRs
-One of those packs of like 30 different colors of Sharpie markers
-Hair cutting scissors
-Clarinet reeds (Vandoren size 4)
-Elixir strings for guitar (medium/light)
-Cash
-A pick up for my guitar
-Djembe
-A piano
-Piano lessons
-Digital slr camera
-Zoom lens for camera
-Gum
-Trip to Graceland
-Schlitterbahn tickets
-Cubs tickets
-Fluffy warm socks
-Funny salt & pepper shakers for my collection
-Lok lak
-Old Navy jeans
-Cake decorating things (bags, tips, etc)
-Mint Melano cookies
-Jamba Juice!
-A good football
-A good baseball/bat
-Tennis raquet
-Wakeboard
-An orange julius
-A really large blank canvas
-Mary Kay anything (call my sis!)
-Trip to the art museum
-Trip to the science museum
-Trip to the history museum
-Chips and salsa (you can't go wrong)
-Simple diamond earrings
-Wireless mouse
-Shoes, shoes, and more shoes
-An air freshener for my car
-A dance party
-Going dancing
-Swing/ballroom dancing lessons
-A new Oklahoma hoodie
-Biolage shampoo and conditioner
-Tools (seriously)
-Febreeze
-A broadway/off broadway show (Hairspray, Lion King, Rent, The Producers, etc)
-Taramuharas
-Dwight Bobble Head
-Bobble Head Stoops
-Watch battery
-Extension cord for Mac plugs
-New glasses
-Special K vanilla almond cereal
-Sweet tea (McAllisters or Cain's)
-Guitar picks (light)
-Spice rack
-An elliptical machine
-A good concert (Dave Matthews, David Crowder, John Mayer, Norah Jones, Justin Timberlake, Bon Jovi, Adele, Sarah Bareilles, etc)
-Horse and carriage ride
-Scavenger hunt
-Banana pancakes
-Grande Chai Latte from Starbucks

Done and done!

Shameless Plug: OU's Advanced Programs

(Yes, the title of this blog post sounds lame. I'll try to make it as fun as possible.)

Want a graduate degree in something like Economics, International Relations, Human Relations or Communication?

Want to go to grad school but you have to work 40 hours a week?

Want a graduate degree without having to go to class several times a week, every week?

Want to have flexibility with your class schedule and not be restrained by semester time commitments?


If you said "yes" to any of the above, then you should check out OU's Advanced Programs! This program is designed for people who work 40 hours a week, are single parents, are in the military and have to travel, and for those who can't/don't want to commit to going to class every week for an entire semester.

Yes, it's true. I tell people about AP and they are shocked that they can get their Masters degree by doing weekend classes. It's flexible. It's really fun. You get the same degree as all the people going to class all week during the year.

I'm in the Human Relations program. It's sweeeet! This is how it works: One 3-hour class meets on Friday night, Saturday during the day, and a little bit on Sunday for two consecutive weekends. That's it. So I find a class I need to take and enroll in it at least 30 days before the class starts. I get my syllabus online whenever I want, get my books, and maybe write a paper or two before class meets (it tells you everything you need to do in your syllabus. Here's my syllabus from my summer class. This class is apparently the hardest class in the HR program, but it was easy.)

I love this program! I met a lady who got her 36 hour HR degree in about 10 months. She took back-to-back weekend classes while working full time and she was done.

Oh and I forgot to mention: the application process is a cinch. No GRE. No prereqs, just an undergrad degree. No letters of recommendation. They make it simple because they want people to get their graduate degree but understand that the people they are reaching out too are really busy working full-time, serving our country, raising their children, etc.

I've gotten a couple of people to get in the program already! You should check it out. Click here to see the degree options.

Shameless Plug: Qdoba

If you haven't heard, Qdoba has tacos for 99 cents every Monday! I don't really know how much they usually are, but they must be more than 99 cents normally. Nevertheless, it has proven to be reason enough for me to eat tacos every Monday for the past month with Anissa. The odds are you will find me there next Monday!

Anyways, these tacos are good. And cheap. That's my shameless plug.

An Update

My blog has been calling my name for the past few weeks. So here I am!

I'm in a good place right now. God is so good! He provided a job for me that I really love. For those of you who don't know, I'm the new "BSU secretary." If you call me at work you are sure to hear my phone voice for which I get made fun of a lot. I'm working on sounding like me when I say, "Baptist Student Center. This is Jenny." It's hard to break the phone voice.

I realized the other day that I have had seven (7) jobs since I walked the stage last May. SEVEN. Since becoming a college grad I have jumped from job to job, not because I got fired or quit necessarily. The circumstances were weird, for instance I worked at the state capitol during the legislative session. I'm a good employee, I promise!

These situations have had some purpose, which I am now seeing. God's put some people in my life recently who needed some encouragement in this area. Also, this is exactly the type of thing we'll be going through as Shift Class of 2010 (shameless plug), so I'm thankful for my erratic employment statuses.

I'm excited for the things to come! In my heart I sense something big around the corner, something God's prepping me for. If I didn't know Him, I don't know who/where/how I'd be today! Can I get an amen???

He's Just Not That Into You

He's Just Not That Into You tells the stories of a group of interconnected, Baltimore-based twenty- and thirtysomethings as they navigate their various relationships from the shallow end of the dating pool through the deep, murky waters of married life, trying to read the signs of the opposite sex... and hoping to be the exceptions to the "no-exceptions" rule.
Gigi just wants a man who says he'll call-and does-while Alex advises her to stop sitting by the phone. Beth wonders if she should call it off after years of committed singlehood with her boyfriend, Neil, but he doesn't think there's a single thing wrong with their unmarried life. Janine's not sure if she can trust her husband, Ben, who can't quite trust himself around Anna. Anna can't decide between the sexy married guy, or her straightforward, no-sparks standby, Conor, who can't get over the fact that he can't have her. And Mary, who's found an entire network of loving, supportive men, just needs to find one who's straight.
If you've ever sat by the phone wondering why he said he would call, but didn't, or if you can't figure out why she doesn't want to sleep with you anymore, or why your relationship just isn't going to the next level.. he (or she) is just not that into you.

That synopsis comes straight from the He's Just Not That Into You movie website, and it's appropriate that it does not use any "feel good" language in describing this film. Sure, I laughed at parts, but as the credits rolled and we shuffled out of the theater I could not shake an whelming feeling of hopelessness. This movie may be realistic in the sense that the girl doesn't always get the guy (or vice versa), but it only highlighted the ever-increasing complexity of relationships today.

This story is driven by Gigi's growing understanding of men, how they think, and how they show a girl that he is interested. She doesn't get it. She makes a fool of herself to keep the attention and affection of a man who may only wants her for a little bit but really isn't that into her. Gigi is only looking for the right guy- to find love- and luckily meets a guy friend who coaches her through men's "complex" signals. The humorous truth of women overanalyzing every detail of a date while men remain straight-forward drives this plot past the limit to the point of confusion and hypocrisy.

The depiction of marriage was really confusing to me. In a span of two hours the film depicted marriage as a dreaded death sentence, a wonderful completion to a longstanding relationship, and worth throwing out the window because of boredom. I didn't get it. One message Hollywood sends in this film is that if you fall in love with somebody (what does that even mean anyway?) it doesn't matter what it takes to secure them, even if that means ruining a marriage. In giving advice to Anna (Scarlett Johansen) who likes a very married guy, Mary (Drew Barrymore... who also produced this film) tells Anna something along the lines of (I try to quote), "How could you come across the love of you life and have to pass him up because you are already married?" Unbelievable.

Anyway, I don't want to ruin the plot for those who want to see it- it's a "cute movie" and entertaining. I was unimpressed with the messages this film sent because I know there is more hope than that- than wondering if you are the rule or the exception to the rule, than calling your marriage quits because of mistakes, or than having your whole love life hinge on if you can interpret a guy's not-so-straight-forward hints. Hollywood has made things OK that shouldn't be, and we shouldn't accept its interpretation on life.

If you've seen it, let me know what you honestly think. Maybe I harbor too much negativity towards it, but then again I'm just ranting!

25 Random Things

Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

1. I love school. I plan to go back this year and get a Masters degree.

2. I met Dustin Diamond (Screech from Saved by the Bell) at Frontier City when I was younger.

3. God blessed me with a knack for languages- it's easy for me to pick up a foreign language, and one of these days I plan to be fluent in one!

4. I rarely stick to recipes... I like to make my own stuff up!

5. I learned to type from hours spent on AOL as a young teenager. Thanks to chat rooms and instant messages, I can type 87 words per minute (take that, Mavis Beacon!)

6. I have a vivid dream almost every night. It can get pretty exhausting. A lot of times these dreams are very scary, but sometimes turn out well (one time I woke up with a good idea for a book).

7. I want to write a book based on this dream I had one time.

8. "Don't Stop Believin'" is one of the best songs ever!

9. Japanese Cherry Blossom is the best scent at Bath and Body Works right now, in my opinion.

10. Recycling... it's something I need to get better at.

11. The F9 key on my laptop is quasi-stuck, which is interesting because I don't think I've ever used that key.

12. I'm competitive.

13. I think the Twilight series is really great, not because of Stephenie Meyer's writing but because of the intricate fabric of the story. Trying to explain the story to someone is really difficult for a Twi-hard because it's almost like explaining the details of one of your friends lives- there's too much to be comprehended- you just have to read the books to understand, to really know the characters. AND I think Ms. Meyer should finish Midnight Sun (Edward's version of Twilight) and publish it. Don't punish the fans, Stephenie!

14. I wished people still danced... like real dancing- swing, waltz, tango, etc. I think nowadays people put too much weirdness into dancing. It's OK and fun to dance with a friend and it mean nothing more than that. Maybe I'm just old school, but ladies and gentlemen should dance.

15. I've saved every note of encouragement I've gotten and they are in a box in my room. When I'm down I read one (or 20) and the Lord encourages me through them!

16. One of my goals is to go to every continent before I die. Three down, four to go. As a 24 year old I think I'm going at a good pace!

17. I'm trying to work on what/how I talk about things. God has brought Ephesians 4:29 up to me a lot lately, and I'd like to honor Him in what comes out of my mouth.

18. Reading biographies is fun! God has used books like this to shape and encourage me. When you read a biography, you can get so much wisdom and help from someone who has been down a road. It's like being discipled by them! One of my favorites right now is Isobel Kuhn. But at the top of my list would definitely be Corrie Ten Boom- what a lady!

19. My family is really fun and... loud. It's normal for us to quote movies in normal conversation or to burst into song in public at the drop of the hat. I thought that was normal for families until my friends have hung out with the fam and told me otherwise.

20. I wish I had a degree that would enable me to get a job.

21. Music runs in the family. All of us can sing or play something. I learned how to harmonize from my mom, who would always sing the harmony to every song on the radio. My ear got used to it I guess, and so I give her the credit!

22. I'm not a fan of texting. OK, well I think texting is fine if it's something like, "Hey, we are going to see a movie tonight. Want to come?" Having meaningful conversations via text is not cool, because I can't tell your tone (communication major here!) and it would be much faster to have the conversation the old-fashioned traditional way, by actually talking. Maybe it's the old school in me...

23. I want to be out there on the front lines, liberating people with my music!
Not really... movie quote.

24. Didn't this note used to be called "16 random things"? Who upped the anty to 25?

25. My fam is going on a cruise again.. January 2010. Caribbean. You should come.