I've been on bed rest for the past few days... it has given me a lot of time to think that is for sure. I may have to do a second round of the injection, but I am hoping that just this one is going to be it for now. I also have amazing people that are supporting me during this time. Friends that have come and mowed the lawn, stayed with me, brought me everything that I need and just been there for me.

This week is going to be absolutely insane for me! I have a program that I have to finish everything for by Tuesday. Orientation for the new Soderquist Fellows starts on Wednesday. Bunch gets home on Wednesday and it is her birthday. Plus I still have to do all of my homework for my double load... I'm not sure when I am going to fit it all in. I know it will all get done though, cuz it has to!

~Jenn

spinal stories

For the past year I have been dealing with pain in my lower back and have not done anything about it. Yesterday I received my results back from my MRI and I found out that I have a back of a 50 year old... Great! I will be involved in physical therapy and other things to try and correct the problem. I am still in the middle of processing all of this, but I can also be thankful that it is not worse then it is. There is hope that it will get better and that there will be relief soon...

Please keep this in your prayers.

Guatemala

I just wanted to share a few quick pictures from my trip to Guatemala. It was an amazing time and I hope to write more very soon!

This little girl's name is Emily... She taught me quite a bit of spanish :)

Learning how to grind coffee by hand... who needs those fancy starbucks!

strategy, strategy, strategy

that is basically everything I am doing right now. I am doing a tone of analysis for an organization for their strategy session coming up, and then I go to class and I learn more about strategy... phew, I think I am all strategized out!

So My dear friend, who is going to be leaving for Vietnam soon and she has been bugging me to post this pictures from Christmas, here they are Suz!

This was probably the coldest day ever! Our feet froze, our noses froze and our hands froze... but it was fun! It was a gorgeous day!

Here is one from Easter with Jason and Dani.

Hope you enjoyed the blast from the past.

somewhere else...

i want to be faraway from here. is it possible to love where you are at, but at the same time want to leave with everything in you? well if it is, that is where i am at.

my heart is heavy... my mind is slow... i am trying to see past it all to keep a smile.

As Ingrid Michaelson says it...
Far away far away, I want to go far away.
To a new life on a new shore line.
Where the water is blue and the people are new.
To another island, in another life.

contemplative

sitting at Panera, trying to write a paper... as you can tell, it isn't working.

jbu graduation was yesterday. it is weird to think that i graduated a year and a half ago. i am thankful that i have a solid commitment until this time next year, but i also realize that this time next year, i will be looking for something new to get involved in. i am not worried about it, but i do hope that God shows me what/where it is that i need to be next year.

it's sunday and i have too much to do, but it is because of my perfect ability to procrastinate...

Tornado's and Closets

last night I was rudely awaken by what sounded like a bomb siren... don't worry it was only a tornado siren...

Growing up overseas, I have no clue what to do during a tornado. I ran down stairs, got my four other roomates together and proceed to make a disaster plan. The five of us quickly realized that we did not have a single room in the house without windoes. Not to mention our house is a 100 years old and could fall down at any moment.

the only space that 5 girls could fit was this tiny little closet under the stairs... so we emptied it out and realized that we were still not going to be very safe in this tiny little closet, under a hundred pounds of stairs.

so at 4:25 we decided to run OUTSIDE (yes... in the pouring rain) to our neighbors house. After 5 minutes of standing outside in 50-80 mph winds and banging on the neighbors door we realized that we had made a stupid decision. So we ran back through the rain, under huge trees, and tumbled into our house completely soaked.

at this point we were exhausted and tried to all fit in the closet again. We kept watching the news and realized that the tornado was past us and it was safe to come out.

this morning we woke up and realized that the schools were cancelled, a 15 year old girl passed away from a tree falling on her, and we had been outside during the worst of it...

we have had many laughs over the funny things that were said at 4:00 in the morning, but are very thankful for our safety! What a night!

Here is a couple pictures from the damage... more proof of our stupidity