I'm such a fake.

It's 1:30 in the morning. I am writing a 3-5 page paper over a book I haven't even read. I basically read the introduction, the first chapter, the first sentence of every big paragraph, and the last paragraph of the book. And here I sit, typing up all the knowledge I gained about the Reagan administration, which I never really gained because I didn't read the book. I hope my professor doesn't read this blog. But more importantly I hope I can pull this paper off.

OH SNAP!

I don't think I've ever posted back to back like this, but I just had to do this one....
I was just perusing the archives of jennyscoolclub.blogspot.com and I was reading my post from April 5th, 2005. (You can read the short post and the comments at this link- you have to scroll down to see it) wrote about Supertropolis- the Christian band that redoes rap songs to be about Jesus- and how funny their songs were. I read the comments, and someone from Supertropolis commented on it!!! I don't know if it was a joke or something, but they were legitimately defending their music. I about died, because I had never read that before, and here almost 2 years later I uncover it. Supertrop, I salute you.

OK, you know how some people study better when they listen to music? Well, if they are in a quiet library, they can turn on their ipod and it helps them study.
OK, you know how some people study better in quietude? Well, if they are in a noisy place, they have no option to help them study in silence.
I think someone should invent a CD/mp3 of just quietness... like air.. or something. Then if you need some quiet, you can turn on your ipod to the quiet/air tracks and block out all the background noise.
You don't have to tell me, I know this is a great idea. If I were smart I'd patent it and you'd be buying this off of an infomercial in no time!

I finally found it!!!!!!!!

It happened this afternoon as I was eating my grilled chicken wrap from Block and Barrel. While watching a little television, it hit me like a ton of bricks. I realized my career choice- nay, my calling, from the tube. It is something that I would enjoy doing and would never call in sick for---
I want to design the games for the show MXC. Yes, it's true. Who wouldn't want to conjure up amazing obstacles like a huge log drop or dodging ginormous fake boulders? I could think up great new stunts to place over bodies of water or foam pits. It would truly be a dream job. Of course, I would probably have to move to some sort of Asian country, but I think I could deal with that. And while I'm working for the show, I could change things up a bit- like making it less inappropriate and disrespectful of the entire female population, for starters.
What do you think? Is it for me?

Single Awareness Day? I think not...

Welp, it's that day again- the day some dread, the day some dream of. It's Valentine's Day, or as some like to call, "Single Awareness Day." So what?

So what if you're single? Why is that such a big deal? In America alone there exist over 82 million single people. So for all you loners out there: don't get depressed because you are sooo not alone! People, especially our ages, get so emotionally scary on this one day in the year because they do not have some sort of significant other, someone to call their own. Now, I'm not saying I've never had a day when I wished I weren't single, but the propensity for this ides of February to depress millions of people is a little much.

For all you unsingle peeps: Bravo! I'm happy for you, so enjoy today, the day of love, and don't let the single people get you down. In fact, you won't have to worry about them after they have read this blog.

Back to the sad singles out there. As Charlotte said from her Web, "Chin up," which basically means stand up tall and proud and move on. Why avoid this day when you can adore it for all the other people who get to celebrate it with someone else? Why loathe it when you can learn to listen to the love lovers lament to their loved ones? Why dread Valentine's Day when you can deal with it and move on? Didn't Burt Bacharach say, "What the world needs now is love sweet love"? Didn't the Beatles tell us that all we need is love? Sinatra claimed that "love is a many splendored thing"! So why all the hating against those who have it on this day?

I guess I'm OK with writing this because, well, I really like seeing people being loved. Seeing girls at work with bouquets of flowers from their whoevers makes me really happy for them. Watching people go on their V-Day dates is awesome! Go them! If love is true, it's patient and isn't jealous. I know my Father is giving me some flowers today-- He's planted them all over for me, flowers of all kinds and shapes and colors and smells, such a variety of flowers so I can pick the ones I want. What more could I ask for?? And why should I be jealous?

And we all have single friends! Let's get over ourselves and tell them to have a great Valentine's Day!

I love this poem by Shellie Warren. Here's an excerpt from "I'm single and that's all right with me":

What makes you think that my present status is not a God-given
right, a woman's choice and a healthy decision?

Who told you that without a man, something's missing from my
life, and if so, what would that be?

Love?

I love myself, and more importantly,
I love the Lord
He told me when I delight in Him,
He will give me the desires of my heart

Security
I have everything I need according to His riches in glory

Intimacy
Now, how's a man gonna get to know me
when he doesn't even know himself

See, my Father told me that I am above a ruby's worth,
and a gem does not seek, it is sought, so why would I sell myself
out?

No, I'm single and that's all right with me

Girl, as a woman I know it's not my role to chase after any boy
who professes to be a man

Esther 2:14 states that I am to wait on my king,
and when he's delighted in me, he will call me by my name

My Mama didn't name me Needy or Desperate
I am to be cherished, relished, valued, honored
It's not my job to convince him or convict him of that
My mate will already know it and consistently show it.....

I'm single and that's all right with me.


I love that! I'm not a femi-nazi or anti-man. Don't get me wrong, I like the guys, and I would be dandy if I weren't single anymore, but I'm not going to get all hung up on my singleness. Because God wants me to be like that on this one day. And because I know He's holding out the best for me, I can see this V-Day as a celebration for waiting for the right one. And the right one will come looking for me and will really value me, because I am, like God's Word says, a GEM, and deserving of being sought after. And so are all of you.

I hope this wasn't a total cheese fest. It was just what I was thinking at the time. And I'm not pro-single more than pro-not-single. I can't wait to be not single. That's a lot of "not"s.

The Cave

I've decided to post about something very special in my life. This object of my affection has not only served me and comforted me, but has also surrounded and kept me shielded from harsh life out there. And that thing is..... THE CAVE.

Yes, this is my bed in the back room of our tri-suite. You see, I like it really dark when I sleep, and a lot of light comes through our window. So as you can see, I tucked some blankets under Tygre's mattress, and they completely block out the light! Genius, I know. We affectionately call my nighttime nook "the cave" because of its unique characteristics.

The Cave is near to my heart. It blocks out the light. It makes my bed really cozy and undistracting while trying to fall asleep. It is always a place my roommates hide when I come home so they can scare me. It has also aided me in sneaking out of bed to crawl over the floor to frighten the snot out of Megan when she's trying to fall asleep. Yes, the cave, I owe a lot to you!!!!

Tonight has been great!

Well, tonight has been great, as the title of this post states. First of all, the Dessert Auction pulled in over $500! With the amount of people there, we expected to get maybe $200. To everyone who was there: You encouraged us a lot! Thanks for coming and giving!
Secondly, we had some amazing girl time at the duplexes. I don't know. There is something about just hanging out with a bunch of girlfriends that really refuels my tanks. Don't get me wrong- I like boys! But when it's a bunch of girls in pajamas watching cheesy movies about dancing and then dancing ourselves, there's no real need to put on a front or pretend to be someone you're not. Believe it or not, but girls act WAY differently around guys than they do with all girls. It's amazing the vast differences. This might just be me. I am such a people pleaser that I can be very hard on myself for stupid things. But tonight, I was myself. I acted like an idiot, danced my favorite moves, and was just Jenny in front of people I knew would love me no less. There's something neat about that for a sanguine....
Thirdly, I have a cream cheese caramel apple pie sitting on my desk waiting to be devoured. This was not the best time for me (and you Felicia!) to give up sweets. I have an insatiable sweet tooth that I have to get under control.
Lastly, God is good all the time! I can't really explain here the things he has been telling me lately. I know I may not show it at all, but this last week has been really confusing and difficult and kind of like a "hello God! Are ya hearing me here?!" week. But He's answered my prayers when I shut my mouth long enough to listen to Him. I'm sure had God not made me super-optimistic about life, I'd show negative emotions more. Oh well!
Anyways, it is 2 a.m. and I have no idea what I'm really writing about right now. I'm kind of drained from this week, and to tell you the truth, everything (schedule-wise) is about to get nuts! I'm so glad for Matthew 6:33-34 because I can seek His kingdom first and everything else is added to me, AND I don't have to worry about tomorrow! What a cool promise!

Blogging for blogging's sake

I'm really trying to keep this up. I remember the old days when all my friends would update their blogs regularly, and people would check each others regularly. I remember when comments were common, when writing and ranting were random, when posting was pleasurable, and when opinions were out in the open (sorry, I'm working on my writing...).

I can't really think of anything to write about, so I'll write the first thing that comes to mind. *Looking around the room* OK there is a family picture on the wall right by me. I wish I had a copy on my computer so I could put it up here. In words, the 5 of us aren't in the typical family-portrait layer, with mom and dad in the front while the kids rest their hands on their shoulders and stuff. No, Dad is in the back looking off into the sky with a look of "oh no we're being invaded by aliens!" Amers of course is stanced in the middle hanging on Dad and looking shocked. Mom is kind of in her own little world with the laugh that you know she is about to start crying because this is so funny; she's also giving Matt bunny ears. Matt has a look of extreme pain on his face because my fist is in contact with his right cheek. In retaliation, he grabs my throat in an attempt to strangle me.

That is my family.

I love this portrait, taken in the JCPenney portrait studio, because it really does capture our personalities. Most family pictures do not really allow their family's true colors to shine through. You can see the Van Dyck chemistry all over this!

I used to think we had a pretty normal family, that is, until I started hearing about other people's families (with exception of Megan Traynor's family!). But I guess at one point or another we all realize that our families are somewhat along the lines of, well, just plain "weird."

I'm going to have to shout out to my parents right now though. They have always been the coolest! All of my friends would tell me they were cool parents. We never had curfew. They trusted us. They gave us responsibility and expected us to be independent. I've done my own laundry since I was 5 years old! Things like that make me thankful now, because I consider myself to be a very independent person. I don't think I'll baby my kids because my parents didn't, and, in my opinion, we all turned out OK!

Anyways, Clark and Liz never put ridiculous expectations on us. They never punished us for bad grades because they knew we try our hardest. They never compared us to each other or made us earn any love or extra privileges. When we failed miserably (which, all of us have), they have helped us out. And I think the most important thing about them is that they have always put their kids before them. My mom works 2 jobs to put us through school and is sacrificing years she could be putting toward a master's degree to get us through school first. My dad takes care of my needs (car, money, and the best hugs I could ask for!) and has always defended his kids against those big bad bullies in this world. They really reflect God's love to me.

Anyways, our house may be constantly loud when we're all home. We may make fun of each other excessively and have our dramas, but I wouldn't have them any other way! I love the Van Dycks!

I wish my parents read this. Then again, maybe I should just tell them....

This has been so encouraging!

I love Charlie Hall's music! This one I have been listening to non-stop for a few days now. It is oh so good. I've gotten obsessed to the point of trying to get it to sound good on guitar. Enjoy.

Come for Me
Charlie Hall

Jesus come take me away,
I long to see Your face
This world is broken yet beautifully made,
Jesus come take me away

Jesus I’ll patiently wait,
till like a vapor I’ll fade
Help me fulfill all your dreams for these days,
Jesus I’ll patiently wait

You’ll come again with a shout,
like a thief in the night you’ll come riding on clouds
Finally the voice I have followed for life
has a glorious face that is lit up with light

And you’ll come for me,
No more pain, peace,
No more fear, release
just lost and consumed with my glorious King
And you’ll come for me

Jesus today I am tired
I need your music to come and inspire
I give myself to be refined in this fire,
but Jesus today I’m so tired

Come for me

I am so different!!!!

I put this old family picture on here to display how different one can become as they mature. I'm the one in the pink dress.... no, the blond one in the pink dress. Anyhoo, I am very different than I used to be. I am still me, but different for one very good Reason. Read on...

This weekend was really challenging. I went to the Spring Retreat with John and Helen Crawford, and I wish all of my friends could have gone. God was there! He showed me a lot of this about myself that I really like to change. The Crawfords talked about renewing our thought patterns and what the Word of God can do for you.

This blog is called "I am so different" for many reasons. The first being that I am not who I was anymore! When I accepted Christ, He took up His home in me. Why He wanted to do that, I don't know. I have nothing to offer Him, but I have something to offer the world now, and that is the knowledge of the saving grace of Jesus Christ! He has called me to set my mind and heart on things above, to renew my mind, to put off the old and put on the new, to yield to God. I was never like that before I became a Christian.

Anyways, have you ever walked away from a conversation or situation wondering, "Why on earth did I say that?!" or "Man, what I did was really stupid!"? I didn't know if that was a sanguine thing or not. Sometimes I get caught up in trying to be fun that I can say some stupid/sarcastic/mean things and walk away regretting that or thinking that people noticed and think differently of me. I can relate to some John Mayer right about now:
"One more thing
Why is it my fault?
So maybe I try too hard
But it's all because of this desire
I just wanna be liked
I just wanna be funny
Looks like the jokes on me
So call me captain backfire."

Well for a couple of years now I have been trying to watch the things that I say. Last year it was gossip. Proverbs 26: 20 says, "Without wood a fire goes out;
without gossip a quarrel dies down." This year it was sarcasm. Proverbs 26: 18-19 says, "Like a madman who throws firebrands, arrows, and death, so is the man who deceives his neighbor and says, 'Was I not joking?'"

I went to the Ladies workshop about being clothed in righteousness. Cindy and Lindsay did a great job! I came away with that with the resolve that I want to be a woman who understands that her words can give life or they can give death. Research shows that women speak on average 30,000 words a day (compare that to men at 15,000!), so I need to choose my words wisely! I want Joshua 1:8 to be true in my life, that the Word of God does not depart from my mouth. I want all the words I want to say to be filtered through the Word of God that is on my mouth! Neat!

This post is titled as so because I was perusing through some old blog archives. These things date back to my sophomore year! Reading them, I couldn't believe some of the things I said, not that I cussed or anything, but the way and what I've talked about has changed a lot to me. At times I couldn't fathom me saying some things! I realized that this prayer I've had for years to change my mouth, that I thought I hadn't changed or worked hard enough at changing and was failing at, was really being answered! Thanks to God, my mouth is steadily changing to glorify Him. I am nowhere near perfect, but He is perfecting the good work He started in me (Check out Philippians 4:6!).

Welp, this has been a long one, and I learned so much more this weekend, but I'll save that for later. And I'm sure that nobody blogs anymore or even reads this, but if you do, holler!

A new Norman band! Check them out!

It's happened.
We've started a band.
It's called......

COUCH 6.

Original, eh?

Check us out at http://myspace.com/couch6.

There's only one song on there we recorded really fast. More to come.

Random blog

I'm feeling kind of melancholy tonight. I don't know why, but it's really random. Maybe I've been listening to too much mellow music lately or something.
And speaking of mellow music, I've listened to Jason Morant's "Love Song" about 20 times in a row just now. It's great. Here are the lyrics.

"Love Song" by Jason Morant

Where can I go
Where can I run from You
You're everywhere

You know all my thoughts
You see through my ways
And still You come to me
And so I sing a love song to You
And so I sing a love song to You

From Heaven above
Earth down beneath
Your love rains down on me

You know all my thoughts
You see through my skin
And still You come to me
And so I sing a love song to You
And so I sing a love song to You

You walk on waves
You run with clouds
You paint the sky for me to see
Your majesty
Your majesty is why I sing

And this is a love song for You
And this is a love song for You
And this is a love song for You
And this is a love song for You

You walk on waves
You run with clouds
You paint the sky for me to see
Your majesty
Your majesty is why I sing

Yes it's all for You
In my life a love song to You
In my life a love song to You
Everything I do
In my life a love song to You
In my life a love song to You
In my life a love song to You

This song is on his Myspace page. Check it out at http://www.myspace.com/jasonmorantmusic.

Anyways, I'm liking this song a lot right now. I think I get myself down a lot of times for the dumb things I do. But God knows it all and still chooses to love me and have a relationship with me. That is so cool! He sees everything and knows everything. That is unconditional love. Well, that is actually REAL love, when you love and don't expect anything else in return! It's exactly what 1 John 4 talks about. I tried to pick my favorite line out of this song, but they are all great. Please check this song out because you'll be blessed by it!

Ahhhhh Christmas break!

Welp, it's been nice to be home for Christmas break for more than a week. Unlike past years, I don't have to work over the break but can stay at home and do typical stay-at-home things. I sleep in everyday, watch TV, see friends, etc. Let us not forget the constant eating out at restaurants and watching as many movies as possible. This year I have my fun friend Maria hanging out with the Van Dycks. She's German, so putting these things together means her having to tell my Dad the German word for everything and us having to listen to him try to insert these words into as many sentences as possible. It cracks me up. It's been really fun to have her here with us!
Anyhoo, Christmas is around the corner and this house will be full of people soon. I love the chaos when the fam gets together. I think I have one of the funnest families in the world, but I'm sure everyone thinks that about their families. Right now I'm finding chords and lyrics to Christmas songs that we play/sing on Christmas Eve.
I don't really know why I'm typing this all out. I'm sort of sitting around waiting for the UPS guys to get here with my brother's presents so I can stash them upstairs for mom/santa. I'd post pictures of everything we've done so far, but I forgot the chords for my camera. So yeah.

Anyways, in honor of the holidays, I will leave you with this. It was actually featured on YouTube for reasons I can't explain. I wouldn't be surprised if you couldn't make it all the way through. But it's hilarious and extremely sad at the same time, and I'm sure it was filmed somewhere in Oklahoma because of the presence of some OU shirts, making this sadder. I present to you: Christmelicious.

The most important thing about me....

Go here

9:52 a.m.

Cozy in my canopy bed, I hear my familiar "Victory!" ringtone. Puzzled, I fumble around my bed to grab it, open it up, and see that my friend Elisabeth is calling me. I didn't answer because at that moment it dawned on me the huge possibility that I had overslept and was late to Pride rehearsal. Sure enough, it was 9:52 a.m. 9:52?!?!?!?!? I fell out of bed, grabbed my Pride attire (which I thankfully set out the night before, woke up my roommates with the ruckus, and dashed next door to see if Felicia was awake. Seeing her door open, I was shocked that she hadn't performed the usual game-day ritual of whoever-is-up-first-call-the-other-person. As we saw each other, she yelled "I just woke up too!!!!"



AHHHH!
I don't think I'd ever gotten dressed that quickly. With not a look in the mirror or having brushed my teeth, I grabbed my jacket and clarinet, and Felicia and I dashed out the door, slipping on the wet floor (I'll get to that explanation later), hearing the maintenance people yelling for us to slow down, calling our section leaders to tell them what happened, hauling it down 5 flights of stairs, and breaking into a brisk run in a very freezing morning all the way to the stadium.

In a total of 8 minutes, I don't know how we made it to Pride before the whistle was blown. With cramping legs and growling stomach, I marched through my last home game day rehearsal completely in a daze. What had happened???

Well, at about 5 o'clock in the a.m. last night the residents of Couch were alerted by the calm voice of the intercom man to make it downstairs because of a fire alarm. Groggy freshmen and the few crazy upperclassmen (including myself), wrapped in blankets and with sleepy eyes, ventured across First Street to camp out in the bottom of Walker. Apparently through word of mouth we found out about someone on the 11th floor setting of the sprinkler system, which in turn flooded the elevators and stairwells all the way to our floor on 6.

About an hour and a half of sitting on pool tables and discussing whether or not we had time to make it to Crossroads and back before they allowed us in, the friendly staff allowed us to make our ways back upstairs. Herding a couple hundred of people up one stairwell was quite interesting, and we finally made it back to our flooded-elevator-lobby floors.

It took me a good hour to fall asleep because I was starving, which made rehearsal so hard because I never got to eat breakfast. And I had only been awake a good 10 minutes before rehearsal started, so I never had time to get used to the idea of it being game day and yadayada.

Anyhoo, stories like this make days like today memorable. It's also quite challenging to know that I can make it out of bed, change, and get to the stadium in a dash under 10 minutes.

What I think about......

Ever felt tired? Ever felt like your to-do list is becoming so full that you soon lose motivation to conquer it? You ever feel like you signed up for too much and wonder what state of mind you were in for thinking you could get it all done? Ever feel like you just want to give up? Yeah, I'm feeling that way too.
I have counted up the total pages I have to write for one class:28. Twenty-eight pages of papers/journals/project, in a matter of 3 weeks. But it doesn't end there. I have a speech to write and memorize. There's countless pages to read. Then there are finals. And to top it off, when will I fit that in this ridiculous schedule? Some days I go from 8 in the morning to 11 at night.
But this isn't a complaint. It's a challenge. I think in moments like this, when I'm pondering where on earth I will find the time to get things done, that I have an extreme peace from God. I honestly do not know how I could have gotten through this semester (and some really difficult past ones) without Jesus Christ. Did you know that I have the same power in me that Jesus had in Him when He rose from the dead? I have that death-conquering power in me!! Because I have trusted in Jesus to take the penalty of my sins, I have His Spirit LIVING in me! If God's power could take crucified and buried Jesus and bring Him back to life, then surely He can help me with all of this school work I have to get done. Praise Jesus for that power.
I am in awe of what He can do. I say this is a challenge because I have to trust God to get this done. I have to make a choice to harnass that power Jesus had by obeying God. And He will conquer my schedule. He will shatter my frustrations and stress. He will give me the peace that transcends all my doubts and weaknesses. God will overcome!
Thanks to God, I have the most powerful power.
Do you?

I'm bringing blogging back.

OK, I completely forgot that I had a blog. I used to post on it pretty regularly, back when my computer's internet worked. Anyhoo, I sort of discovered it today after coming across someone else's blog where my blog was tagged in it. Then it dawned on me that the last time I blogged was this summer, and that's a shame. I enjoy blogging. I enjoy commenting on blogs. I enjoy getting comments on blogs.
And you know what else? I browsed through a lot of blogs, and nobody's updated for quite some time. I know I'm not one to talk, but people, we need to start being faithful bloggers again! I am constantly encouraged by the things people blog about, and I don't do a good enough job telling them. There have been key blog entries that I remember from years ago. Let's revive the blog!!!! Who's with me????
(I realized that I said "blog" 12 times.... and I now realized that I actually went back and counted....)

Yay for videos!

Welp, I really wanted to put some more Chicago pictures up, but I'm feeling kind of lazy right now. So the next best thing is a video! And this one's great because it's the 7th inning stretch at Wrigley Field! You know what that means.... take me out to the baaaalllllll gaaaaammmmeeeee....

Here We Go Again

After countless hours of working out this past week I have found some new motivation to exercise. OK Go, you inspire me.

We're havin a heat wave... a tropical heat wave.

Well, most of you will have been hit by the extreme heat wave blazing across the nation. We Jimmy John's marketers felt it today as we walked around residential neighborhoods for hours in 100 degree weather. At one point we look down and Lindsay noticed that the tar in the road was melting and forming liquid bubbles in the pavement. If I had an egg, I would have cooked it.
Stay cool everyone. I'm going to go sit by the fan now.