A large dose of over-confidence combined with driving a standard

I mentioned in an earlier post about my lessons from Michelle on driving a standard. This was necessary because we were taking her car to Lubbock and it's a 7 hour drive. It would be mean for me to make her drive the whole way, plus now I've got a new 'skill' under my belt, right? Well, let me tell you, on the way there, I did great. Of course, once I got the Corolla (a.k.a. Henry) into 5th gear, driving was a breeze. Coming home, I drove the 2nd half of the trip. I was a little hesitant about driving in the metroplex, but I kept my tiny fears to myself. You see, normally, I thrive in driving in heavy traffic, but since I was driving this car that required extra skill, I was a little hesitant. However, nothing went wrong and all was well. I did have to avoid what seemed to be a suicidal dog that was trying to jump from the back of a truck, but otherwise it was a calm trip. As I was coasting into Exit 556 to head home, I pulled into the gas station. We filled up, and then Chelle says, "Do you still want to drive?" I thought for a minute and decided 'Heck yes I do!'. I figured it would be a great opportunity to practice my skills in the city, since I had been doing so well at this point. All was well as I was pulling up to the red light at the Loop and Hwy 69. The light turned green and with the clutch pushed in, I shifted into first, then started giving it some gas. The car died. Michelle, being very sweet, reassured me and said, just try again. So I did...and it died again. At this point I notice some cars coming from behind. I quickly put on the hazard lights. I'm watching the rearview mirror, freaking out, because it looks like a large truck is about to plow into us. Michelle couldn't see it at all, but trusted me, and prepared for impact. Yes-I was very terrified. (I was also very mad that I couldn't accomplish the feat of driving Henry.) Well, after all the cars behind us slammed on their brakes, the horns began to honk. I was a little frazzled to say the least, so Chelle asks me, "Do you still want to drive?" I quickly said, "No." We proceeded to get out of the car, in the middle of the highway, and switch seats. Of course we were receiving harsh glances by all those around us, but I was just relieved that we were safe-including Henry. So what is the moral of the story? Just because you had a few good runs, doesn't mean you won't screw up the next time. Will I try driving Henry (or any standard) again? Sure-it was a good learning experience and I figure it will come in handy if I'm ever in a situation where I need to drive a standard.(like on the Amazing Race!)

The land of the white buffalo

So Chelle and I took a little excursion to the 'land of the white buffalo' this weekend. We left Friday for our 7 hour drive. We had a good weekend hanging out with Jess and meeting a lot of her friends. Saturday we skipped the pancake festival to eat at Toyko, a restaurant similar to Shogun's, just cheaper. I managed to eat most of my meal with chopsticks-I do need to practice, right? I did give up towards the end so I could get a real bite of rice. That evening we went to the Lady Raiders vs. Lady Aggies basketball game. It was a close game so it was full of excitement. Tech game out on top so we were satisfied. (Although, I really am not a Tech fan, I had to cheer for them since I was in Lubbock.) Sunday we went to church with Jess, met some more of her friends, and had lunch with them. Of course that was followed up with Cold Stone then a long Sunday afternoon snooze fest. That evening we watched Jessica's undefeated indoor soccer team whoop up on their opponents. We had Starbucks to celebrate, then headed to play some games with folks at the apartment. I've left out some stuff, obviously, but this gets the point across that a fun time was had in Lubbock. On our trip home, we decided to make the most of it and mark a few things off our 'things I want to do in life' list. We had noticed a broken down train on the way there, so when it was still there on our return trip, Chelle decided that we must climb on top of it. We managed to get ourselves on top and walk around a bit. It is a lot higher than I imagined. We got quite a few honks by passing drivers. We know it's because we're so hot. While we did not have the camera phone on top of the train, I did take a picture of it before we left.

We also picked some cotton. We brought some back to Ine who was impressed since she had never seen cotton growing. On the trip we also noticed a lot of windmills, or turbines as Michelle took to calling them. We ventured down a random road, hoping it would take us closer to the turbines. Well, it did, but we were stopped by a sign that read, 'No trespassing'. I tried taking a picture, but it didn't turn out that well since we were still too far away for a good shot. Here is what I got:

Here is Chelle by the wind farm sign:

So we didn't get to hug the windmills, but we at least found them.
We also managed to tour the city of Abilene. We were in search of food and ended up at Java City. Don't laugh-they had sandwiches. Then of course we had a nice Javalanche(their version of a frap) for dessert.
So there you have it-our trip to Lubbock. While we didn't see any white buffalo or prairie dogs (dang it!), it will still be marked down as a success in my book.

D-Now & V-Day recap

Well, Katy requested that I write about the Disciple Now weekend, so I suppose I'll try and do it justice. This past weekend I was the leader of a group of 11th and 12th grade girls at Friendly Baptist Church. The weekend was about 'tupos' (not to be confused with tupac). Tupos is a greek noun that means 'to leave an impact'. We talked about how our words and actions leave an impact on peoples lives and we can choose to either leave a good tupos or a bad tupos. I will say that it was convicting to me because I know there are times that I hurt others with my words. I don't care what we said as kids, words can hurt you. Regardless, the weekend went well. It got kicked off by dinner and a comedian. After this we headed to our respective houses that would be our home for the weekend. We had bible study, snacks, and then we made valentine cards to pass out for our mission project the next day. The next morning we got up, had a wonderful breakfast followed by bible study, then headed to Breckenridge Village. BV is a home for mentally handicapped people. It was a lot of fun going because the people were so welcoming. When someone would walk in the room they all celebrated, just glad to see everyone. We passed out the cards we had made along with some other trinkets. After hanging out there, we went back to the church, had lunch, then prepared for the scavenger hunt. We got our first clue and hurried down the road. The clue was to count all the handicapped signs at the Walmart Supercenter on Broadway. This scavenger hunt was different than others I've participated in because after we had the answer, we had to find a pay phone (cell phones were forbidden), and tell them our answer. We had to request our specific person, who was "Cowboy Crooner" for us. I quickly realized it was Ross, so I plan on calling him by this name as much as possible. Anyway, after we were told if our answer was right or wrong, we were given the next clue. We didn't win, but we had fun anyway. We were also asked to bring back an interesting item. We brought back the mascot from a local high school, but the dead cat was much more interesting. (Thanks for that you sick girls!) Anyway, we had more bible study that night along with pizza. The next morning was church and then everyone went home. Steve took the leaders to eat, so that was fun-and free. So there you go Katy-you can add whatever you think I left out!

Monday was of course Valentine's Day. I never expect anything on this day-especially when I have no significant other like this year. However, I got some great flowers from Shani.

I also got some flowers from Fred, Amie's dad, so that was fun.

Amie even made me some little cakes, with help from her mom of course. That night I hung out with Amie for awhile so her parents could go out. After that I went to Chelle's where I got my lessons for driving a standard. I did pretty good! Anyway, I say it was an overall great day. Heck, I got flowers-I didn't even get those last year when I was dating someone! Ok, back to reality...I'm going to do some work now since I'm leaving for Lubbock tomorrow.

iPod and Japan

I've finally done it. I broke down and bought an iPod. Not that it was a tough decision, but I don't really like to spend money. I'm considered 'cheap' and 'thrifty' by most people. I think jeans should only cost $15 and if they're more than that, it's a rip off-and of course I've been ripped off many times. However, with the iPod, I realized that this was an investment-one that could change my life. (ok, I tend to exaggerate at times.) Truth is, I saved my extra earnings (i.e. babysitting, plasma, and change that my family leaves sitting around) for the past 2 months. I decided that none of the money for this little device would come from my salary. It should be coming by post in just a few days. I would have just rushed over to Circuit City to pick one up, but the online apple store had free engraving so I took advantage of the offer. If anyone has any suggestions for a good song to put on there, let me know. (Nothing from the Princess Diaries please, Katy and Lindsey!)

I decided to take off work tomorrow. That's one of the few perks of this job-vacation time. Not that I'm going on vacation, I just needed a day to get some things accomplished, so hopefully I'll do just that. I'll also be taking a couple days off in the next week to go visit Jessica in Lubbock so again, I'm grateful for the much needed paid vacation time. On a side note, for those of you keeping up, I am still in the application process for Japan, and I hope to get all my paperwork done for this in the next week. (It would be sooner, but part of the application requires my doctor to give me a physical-what fun!) In the mean time, pray for me that I'll have wisdom to make the right decisions. This is a scary thing for me to be doing, and I want to make sure I'm exactly where God wants me.

p.s. Best part about Japan: It's closer to Hawaii. (Obviously this opinion could change after actually going there)

My favorite moments during the Superbowl

So I went to the Peer's house to watch the Superbowl with a few other folks. It was fun-mostly playing with the kids and watching America's funniest videos (because come on, you can only look at Tom Brady's butt so much).
My favorite thing Jackson said: "Dad, can I eat some junk food now?"
Matthew predicted at the beginning that the Patriots would win. Later in the game-whenever the Eagles started to catch up in the end-he got excited. I said, "I thought you wanted the Patriots to win." He said, "No, I just said I think they will win. I'm for the Eagles." My great response: "Why?! They don't have ANY cute players on their team!"
Now those of you that know me, know that I actually do enjoy football, but I'm just not that into the NFL. I'd rather watch college or high school teams-especially when I know someone playing. Of course it makes sense that I'd be cheering for the Patriots though for 2 reasons: 1) The Packers weren't playing. 2) Tom Brady is hot.
Now I know that guys that read this may think I'm just a silly girl, but I guarantee you that I know just as much about football as the next guy when it comes to rules and regulations. I don't, however, memorize facts and stats about the players, so get over it. (-:

Some unknown dialogue after the Superbowl:
Reporter: Tom, what are you going to do now?
Tom Brady: I'm going to Disney World with Jenn!

Yes Tom-of course I'll go to Disney World with you!

Pinwheel, pinwheel spinning around...

Ok, I promise I'll quit just posting quizzes and actually write a real post soon-maybe even later today.

I have too much free time at work

I am worth $1,684,950.00 on HumanForSale.com

I think I'm worth more than that...what do these people know? Tell me how much you're worth. It only takes about 5 minutes.

Look at me-I'm a teacher

So I got home from work last night around 5:10 and went to check on my sick mom. I asked when her class started that she had to teach that evening and she said 5:30. She didn't look well, to say the least, as she was laying across the bed. She said (in her most pathetic voice), "Do you mind teaching my class for me?" I immediately went into panic attack mode. Not that it is such a big deal, but I know very little about Medical Terminology. Funny part is I actually have credit for the class from a class I took in high school. I sure knew I couldn't teach these folks anything, despite what my transcript says. I got to the school, unlocked the classroom and the strange looks from students, most of which were older than me, began. I explained to them that Mrs. Shepherd wouldn't be here, but I would pass their test out for them to review, then take it back up. There were only a few groans from the people who probably hadn't studied and got what they deserved. (Man, my opinion of student apathy has sure changed since I was in those shoes.) After this, I took roll and passed out some notes that would correspond with the video I was soon to pop in the VCR. The video was titled 'The Endocrine System' so of course I was excited. Let me tell you, that was a FUN video. I'll leave out the details, because they've all left my head-I have a horrible retention rate for anything dealing with science or Latin. Needless to say, the students weren't too excited about the video-and I don't blame them. Some of them were a little too excited to turn in their homework. I told them to keep it since I wasn't told anything about it. Yeah, obviously they had TONS of faith in my teaching ability. Best part of the evening? I'm getting paid. I know what you're thinking-My mom is sick. I should do this just because I'm a good daughter, right? Well, come on-I could really use some itunes downloads. I wish I could have taken a picture of some of the faces of these students. Boredom was written all over their faces. One girl even fell asleep-great for my teaching morale by the way! Overall, I'd say my debut as a college professor went over, umm, well? If nothing else, this was just reassurance that I don't want to be a teacher. But wait-then why am I applying for a teaching job in Japan? Eh, that's different...I think.

Just when I lost all faith in guys...

If you were around me yesterday, you might have noticed I was a little short with people. (No, I'm not referring to my stature, but my attitude.) I blame this mostly on the fact that I was with a 2 yr. old most of Sunday, and when that was over, I went home and stayed up too late. I do want to apologize if you happened to be in my 'path of rage' (well, rage might be too harsh a word). I'm not sure why I reacted the way I did, but yesterday when I was given a sarcastic remark to an answer I gave, I snapped back saying this person was being mean. (This was after he had just told me how nice I looked...man I'm a jerk!) Of course this guy knows I'm talking about him, but I'll leave his name out for his own privacy. On any other day, I would have gone with the punches and joked around, but this wasn't a typical Jenn day. The guy ended up leaving the office, out of necessity, not because of me, but I think he was glad to leave my attitude behind, with good reason. The sad part was, instead of being remorseful, I was just glad he was gone. This isn't a side of me that I really like, but I guess it needed to be exposed to others for me to truly try and change it. Later that afternoon, this guy returned to the office but I wasn't really in the mood to reconcile things, so I didn't say anything. Another co-worker walked in to ask me about something about my boss (that was a sore subject) and I got upset that this was being brought up again. He sort of smirked, and said, "I'm sorry-that was the wrong thing to bring up. I'm just supposed to be distracting you." About that time I noticed a string of paperclips with a rose attached to the end being dropped over my 'wall'. Along with it was a nice note from the guy I was rude to, apologizing for hurting my feelings. Wow-that's all I can say because it was me needing to say sorry, surely not him, but I just want to say thanks again because you are one great guy and I'm really lucky to get to work with such a good person.

I crown myself the Queen of procrastination

I know the 2 of you that read this may wonder if I'm ever going to finish writing about NY. Ok, I'm going to try and just give an overview instead of being long-winded like I tend to be. (I said try, ok?) After that, I may go into more detail, but this is it for now! Since I already told about the day we got there, I'll start with Wednesday.
12/29/04
Pushed snooze for an hour, then got up around 7:30. We were so overwhelmed to be in NY, that we hurried to the subway and ended up taking the wrong one. No big deal for me-I'm whimsical, right? Lindsey however isn't so laid back. She needs structure (love ya Lin!), but I spotted a place, Europa cafe, and we went in to eat breakfast. We had our over-priced fruit while looking at the map, and me trying to look as non-touristy (is that even a word?) as possible. Sometimes that meant acting like I wasn't with Lindsey and Ine, but I'm sure they didn't mind. We hopped back on the subway after eating and figuring out where to go. We caught the end of the Today Show in Rockefeller Center on accident, then went to St. Patricks Cathedral.

After that we just wandered around, walking towards Central Park. We stopped in a few stores along the way, including FAO Schwarz.



We also took a tour of the Plaza Hotel's lobby, which is the hotel featured on 'Home Alone 2: Lost in New York'. Yes, I'm a dork.



We went into Central Park after that and took some pictures on a big rock.

After the photo-op I proceeded to reenact the scene on Friends where Phoebe runs wildly in the park. Not long after that I tried to reenact the scene in Home Alone 2 where Kevin is running from the bad guys through a tunnel in the park. If you're lucky enough, I'll show you the video of both of these events where I made a fool of myself, but probably not. After that fun, we watched a little ice skating (we weren't prepared with long socks to indulge ourselves) then went to find the Subway. We headed to Greenwich Village. I wanted to see NYU so we were looking for the purple flags. When we had almost given up, we spotted Barnes & Noble. We stepped inside for a moment, looked in a book, found the address for a building at NYU, then headed that way. We soon found one of the dorms and several other buildings. I would have liked to peruse the bookstore, but of course it was closed for the holidays. I did manage to find the building with the Gallatin School of Individualized Study. This is of course where the Olsen twins go, so I had to take a picture.

We stopped in Washington Square park to watch some dogs play in the dog park and of course take more pictures(of just me because I was with 2 camera shy girls!).

We also saw a fat squirrel there.

Lunch was next; We ate at Cosi, a sandwich place similar to Panera. The cashier obviously thought we were true New Yorkers because he gave us a frequent buyer card. From there we went down to Chinatown where my claustrophobia kicked in. It was very crowded and I was happy to get out of there after buying a few I heart NY shirts. After that we caught the subway back to Times Square. After walking around for awhile, I spotted THE NAKED COWBOY. Now you may wonder why I was so excited, but you see before we left for the trip, Lindsey was making a list of things she wanted to do while in NY. She asked me what I wanted to add to it and I said, "See the Naked Cowboy". So you can see why I was very excited that I got to do the one thing I said I wanted to while in NY! When you get your picture with him, he gives you the front and backside-isn't that nice?


Ok-after that we really had to find something to eat. Not because the sight of him made us hungry, but we hadn't eaten in awhile and needed some nourishment. Most of the restaurants, being that we were in Times Square, had lines out the door. We ended up picking Olive Garden despite the fact that we can eat there anytime, just because the line seemed the shortest. While waiting I also got a phone call from a very strange man in PA wanting me to come work for him. He had gotten my phone number off a website w/my resume. I don't know what the job was really because all he wanted to know was what I looked like...nice, huh? After our dinner and a little more window shopping, we went back to the hostel. We did a little e-mailing then took turns in the scalding hot shower.

Ok, who was I kidding? I can't give a brief summary of anything! If I get bored later, I'll write about the next day-oh, and throw out that idea for an overview. I'm no good at that obviously.

P.S. Sorry about all the pictures. I know Katy enjoys them so much so I had to include as many as possible!

Fun times with Lin

This is one of my favorite pictures from New York. It was in Times Square on New Year's Eve. Lindsey protested my noise makers in the beginning, but obviously she came around and joined in the fun.

I heart NY

Well, I'm going to attempt to recall my experiences in New York to you in this epistle of my life. I may finish today, and I may not. I don't really know how much detail I should share, or even how much I really remember. I can get long-winded, so please forgive. (oh, and sorry in advance because I'm sure I'll use past and present tense as if it's all the same-I was not an English major.)
Tuesday, Dec. 28th-Our flight leaves Dallas at 6:50 a.m. that morning, so we leave Tyler a little after 3. Cory comes along to drive the car back because we didn't want to pay for parking. We got there around 5:30, checked our bags, then got in the unusually long line for security. Apparently they weren't ready for the crowds that morning and only had one security station open. We met a nice lady in line who had spent some time in Belgium, so that was fun for Ine. Right when we got close to the front of the line, a hurried man rushed up to the lady checking ID's and asked if he could be rushed through since his flight left at 6. (It was 10 minutes until 6 at this point.) She said, "I'm sorry but I'm not allowed to let anyone cut in line." He was frustrated because obviously the line was going to take about 20 minutes to get through-time he didn't have. I asked the lady if we could allow him to cut in front of us, and she said that was fine, so we did. He was very grateful and even chatted with us for a few minutes while waiting to get through security. We told him we were going to New York and he said that sounded fun-and he also said that he didn't think we would have any trouble finding a guy to buy us drinks. How did he know that was our goal? So once through security-and after Ine had been thoroughly searched-we went to our gate. We had a bite to eat then boarded the plane. There was a lot of sleeping going on, but since I had the window seat I was looking out a lot. I realized on the almost 3 hour flight how useful an iPod would have been. I've really got to get my hands on one of those. It was a really smooth flight and the weather was good for landing. Here is a picture from the plane window:


After searching for the correct baggage carousel, we got our luggage, went to ground transportation, and caught our shuttle to the West Side Inn. We were early for check in so we had to wait about 30 minutes before getting our key, but the nice guy working at the desk kept us company telling us about the high cost of cigarettes there. We went to the room, which looked exactly like it does on the website. (www.westsideinn.com) It also smelled of fresh paint and was very warm. We ended up having the windows open every night because it was so warm. After we checked in, we headed to the subway (the 1 and 9, which we became best friends with during our time in NY). We went to Times Square, basically because we had no other ideas, and we were really hungry. At this point it was 4 p.m. and we hadn't eaten since 6:30 a.m., so needless to say, Jenn was HUNGRY. I wish I had a picture of my face when we came out of the subway and stepped into Times Square. It was a priceless moment I can't ever get back. Just the shock of taking it all in-the huge buildings with big lights and people everywhere. I must have looked like a kid in a candy store for about 30 seconds. We were on a mission though, so the first place we saw (Planet Hollywood) is where we went to eat. I didn't even care that I was going to have to pay $12 for a burger-that's how hungry I was. It was really good though. After that, we wandered around the area for a bit. It actually was pretty cold, and it snowed that night (which ended up being the only day of snow, but not the only day of cold). Here is a picture of Ine and I in the snow:

We were all pretty beat from the early morning and wanted to get a good night sleep before the crazy week begun. Ok, that's all I have the energy to write for now-obviously I try and tell too many unimportant details-but this is more for my own memory. Feel free to read as little or as much as you'd like-or leave mean comments saying I write too much. That'll be fun too.

It is the end of post office lines...

Well, the day didn't start off too great, but I've realized that worrying about things I can't fix doesn't help at all. My car is very messed up again-frustrating. I hate car trouble because I can't fix it myself. I like to think I'm pretty self-reliant (apart from the whole trusting God thing), so when I can't do something myself, I feel defeated. Despite this, my day did go on. I drove my dad's car to work, after dropping him off. That meant that I didn't get to go to the gym this morning, but I'll feel better if I get to run tonight. I went to the post office on my lunch break. The line was very long, so I'm very thankful for the new automated postal machine that allows people to send their own packages. It is very easy to use, and I don't know why more people waiting in line didn't try it out. I actually overheard people in line complaining about the slow workers. They should have followed my example. I didn't have to speak to a single employee of the post office to get my package sent. Now that's the kind of thing I could get used to. Trust people to do their own stuff, so when it is done wrong, it's no ones fault but their own. You can't get mad at the post office when you weighed and shipped your own package. Ok, enough about the post office. I got a surprise this afternoon from Chelle. She brought me a Frappuccino® from Starbucks. It was great-yummy even. So the day is almost over and I still haven't written a post about New York, but I will try and work on that tomorrow in my spare time. I promise it is forthcoming, Katy.

(On a side note, when I was spell checking this entry, it suggested I replace "Chelle" with "chilly". Funny, huh? Maybe that will catch on as her new nickname. What do you say Chelle?)

:-)

My surprise date with Tiffany

Last night I had plans to go out with Tiffany. This was so we could share our NY pictures with each other. She called me that morning to ask where I wanted to go, but we decided to just think about it and decide later because we had no good ideas. I called her when I got off work that evening and she informed me that she had a 'surprise date' planned for us. I was a little worried, mostly because you never know what to expect with this crazy chick. So she picks me up and off we go. She says, "I hope it's ok, but the place we're going is about 30 minutes away." I said I didn't mind. I was intrigued really at this point to know where we were going. I asked if she had ever been to the place and she replied, "Well, I've been to this place in other cities, but not this particular one." I decided to sit back and enjoy the ride. We hadn't been in the car but a few minutes when we got to Hwy. 31 and she said, "Oh, we need to go on this road." I asked if we needed to go east or west and she didn't know. She had some directions that were printed from mapquest, but she wouldn't let me see them. I said, "Well, if you go east we will go to Kilgore or Longview. If you go west we will be headed to Athens." She said, "Ok, we need to go west." At this point I knew we must be going to Athens, but I still had no idea what our final destination would be. We arrived in Athens and she begins looking around. She starts turning into the parking lot of McAlister's Deli and I had to laugh. Tiffany and my sister are the only 2 people I know that work at a place and still want to eat there all the time. She then tells me we had to come all the way to Athens for McAlister's because her boss in College Station needed her to pick up some salad bowls since they were out at her store. After spending a good amount of time in McAlister's, we decided to check out a local coffeeshop. Now if you know about Athens, it's not really a city known for, well, anything. Tiffany had heard about this coffeeshop on the square so we headed downtown, which only took about 3 minutes because Athens is so small. We looked in the window and saw an older man playing guitar and several other people in their 40's or 50's watching him. There were also a few other young people scattered around the room. We hesitated only a second, then walked in the door. We were standing near the door when a guy working there asked if we wanted to order any coffee. We declined, then Tiffany said, "Is there a sign up sheet to play here?" Yes, Tiffany, the self-proclaimed up and coming artist wanted to play in Athens. He said, "Well actually, you need to talk to that guy over there" and he pointed to a man in a black jacket. We walked over and Tiffany inquired about playing. He asked if she had a tape, which she doesn't, but she said she could get him one. He said, "Well, if you don't have a tape, you could come in a few weeks when we have an open mic nite. We will be picking some people from that to play a whole set. Can you play for 2 hours?" She laughed and said, "Well...I can talk part of that time too!" Anyway, more details were given about the open mic nite and we headed out the door. As we're walking out, I whispered to Tiffany, "You just got your first gig." Her reply was simply, "You did not just say that." All in all, we had a great, fun time in Athens, Texas. I didn't really think that was possible, but hey, with Tiffany, the world is viewed at a different angle.