portfolio-smortfolio

who the heck has ever heard of a teaching portfolio???? (k, education students - you don't count)....so today i feel much better and am back to my old, procrastinating self....i seriously think that procrastination is an incurable disease -it's been a part of me as long as i can remember and has not gone away....case in point : tonight I: had a nap, ate delicious veggie tacos, talked to Davide on the phone, talked to my parents on the phone, phoned my friend who just had a baby girl (congrats Beck on Lucy Charlize! - what an adorable name, eh???) emailed, browsed the web for an hour looking at knitting patterns, went to get mango smoothies with my housemates, watched the Bachelor, watched Super Nanny, cleaned my room, emailed some more, and now i am blogging - like everything under the sun except for the 4 projects i have to do in the next 48 hours....egad, when will i learn???????????

last 3 days of university, here i come!!

-J.

sunrise, sunrise...

...looks like morning in your eyes.....ahh...how I love Norah Jones....she reminds me of driving back home to Barrie from Ottawa in the summer with Christy...so peaceful, so in love (with the fact that I was no longer letting love get to me), and so excited about the world outside Barrie ....today was a really emotional day, because last night was my last university formal ever, then there was a loooooong staff meeting at the lonestar with hundreds of people that i don't know, and then my mom told me that she was really sad that i was not coming home for the summer and about all the people she saw today that i miss.....i really am sad that i will not be at home this summer...i'm sad that my housemates are leaving, I'm sad that Davide and Binny and all of the education people are going away and i love them, I'm sad that things will be really unfamiliar in the next couple of weeks....am i really as adventurous as i like to think? i hate change....nothing makes me happier than people who really know me, who i don't have to pretend with, and who love me anyways....and whom i can really sink my life into and love in return....and this always takes time....some longer than others, but some almost instantly....why do i want to go to Abu Dhabi next year? and then to Vancouver? so much change.....

thank you, God, that you are constant, and you require change for me to grow, to evolve. ease my mind.

by the way, my new lonestar name is - perhaps a sign of new beginnings? - Sunrise....


-J.

introducing the newest Lonestar employee....

......me! Yep, folks, just one day after i went in and dazzled them with my.... wits, the Lonestar (a fabulously and scarily busy patio restaurant on the water in K-town) hired me to be a full-time server, starting next week! crazy! So, i guess I'll be staying in K-town for the summer, which I'm reeeeeeeeeally excited about - I've always wanted to! (For those of you who have been following my summer happenings, I decided to ixnay the job at the School of English, cuz it turns out they only wanted me to work for August, and I can't pay off my frikin' OSAP with that teeny weeny paycheck....cuz it's super hard to find jobs without lying about the fact that I'm not available in Aug...and lying makes baby Jesus cry...). Except I'm sad that I won't be seeing the Barrie crew that much, but what can ya do....i'll be back for a few days here and there....so now I'm happy and sad and nervous and over-gleed and sentimental all at once.....ah - emotional overload! must go eat chocolate....mmmmmm....chocolate.....

-J.

decisions, decisions...

i really should be stressed out, but I am not: the Lord is good. As I reflect back upon the last few months, God has been my guide (my sherpa, if you will!), my comforter, my teacher, my provider, and my everything.....At the Biblical Counseling Centre in Chicago, I learned so much about being true to his Word, and to worshipping Him before all the other things that so easily become idols in my life: acceptance, security, popularity, pleasure, and....politics!!!.....Lord, may I learn to seek you first and listen to other's perspectives and always assume that there is something to be learned from the other side...left-wing, right-wing - does it all really matter how we label ourselves?? Sometimes I feel like the most liberal amongst conservatives, and sometimes I feel like the most conservative amongst liberals....I see the perspective of both sides (most recently I've discovered that not all conservatives are ignorant, money-grubbing, self-righteousness pharisees), and you know what? I think it is more important to focus on people, and on the type of person I am, than political ideals....sometimes these intertwine, i know, and when it does I will seek to be a positive voice, standing up for the things and values that I believe are right..... but mostly, i am just really sick of the whole debate - i can and will be friends with people regardless of their political affiliation....for i am neither liberal nor conservative, I am a struggling child of the Father trying to figure out what He wants me to do with what i know, with what i have, and with the time he's allotted me....may I always seek to have a humble heart and listen more than i express my opinion.

as for the decisions....Barrie or Kingston for the summer? There are way too many relationships that I am not ready to say goodbye to in Kingston....all the people at Next church have become a family to me, and this summer seems like the last opportunity I will ever have to live in Kingston and be a part of these people's lives....yet there are so many people that I love and miss at home, too....despite the "drama" of last summer, t and j are dear to me, along with my family and all the people at Harvest and Bethel....i love and miss you guys....and if I am going to Dubai for the next two years - I will not see them for a while either...

despite it all, God will use me and be with me wherever I go, of that I am sure....I feel peace knowing that He will make the best out of any decision I make, and it will all work for good in the end....I have an interview at the Lonestar (a hugely popular and ridiculously busy patio-restaurant down-town kingston) today so however that goes I will take as a sign to stay in k-town or go home....

to anybody who has comforted me, supported me, taught me, and laughed with (or even at) me....I love you dearly and am praying for you....!

love Jen

ta da!!!

blanket pics
Originally uploaded by hollograms.

so, my loyal bloggy fans, THIS is the one and only reason for my absense over the last...what - month?? when i said i was obsessed with knitting, i meant it - and this is my first completed project! it's a baby blanket for Kath and Jared's brand new baby boy....it took me like 80 hours because i used such fine yarn, but i loved every stich of it...and now my hands are craving something else to knit!

oooohhh!!!!! ahhhhhhh!!!

blanket pics
Originally uploaded by hollograms.

isn't it stunning?? see if you can guess which side (left or right) i started with...it has like a million more mistakes....!

(hint: it's not the right) :)

introducing the stylish Nathaniel Zechariah Siebert

blanket pics
Originally uploaded by hollograms.

it was sooo great to have Jared, Kath, Soren and Nathan come to visit....what an adorable baby and a great weekend playing with Soren and visiting with Kath....love you girl!