Jessie's Jargon

Engagements

2011-11-14T19:18:00.000-08:00

A few engagements...

Thirty isn't so bad...

2011-11-14T17:15:00.000-08:00

Many people would prefer to skip or avoid their thirtieth birthday, but I was excited for it to come. I am excited to be thirty. A new decade to create a lot of new memories! The day started out with a few wonderful surprises from my students. Then my wonderful Scott stopped by and brought me beautiful flowers, lunch and treats to share with all of my students. Then that blessed man stayed and graded papers for a couple of hours.

When I got home from work, Scott was there to take me to dinner at PF Changs with just the two of us. Then we joined up with our good friends Kari and Tyler to go bowling. Scott and I had never been bowling together before, so this was a special treat.

When we got home from bowling, we had cake. Not just any cake, but a cake that Scott made. My favorite birthday cake... cherry chip with cherry flavored icing. I was so impressed with his cake making skills. He worked so hard on it.

I know that at this point you are all thinking what a wonderful man I have, but it gets better. He bought me some Burt's Bee's exfoliating scrub and lotion and he washed my feet and gave me the best foot rub in the world. He knows I love foot rubs. My day was perfect.

Thank you Scott for the best birthday ever!

A Few Bridals...

2011-11-03T21:55:00.000-07:00

A few people expressed the desire to see a few of my bridal photos. Here they are!

Shower of all Showers...

2011-11-03T21:31:00.000-07:00

Do you see those mini wedding cakes above? SO CUTE! They even had their very own individual wedding ring attached!

I'm pretty much just the luckiest girl ever. My sister Jody flew into town to throw me the best bridal shower imaginable. There were so many who came to support me and I felt so loved. Two of my sister-in-laws also drove down from Washington for the big event. It was incredible. They went all out and made the day so memorable.

My mom and sister Jody (the mastermind behind it all)

Fun gift boxes for all who attended

One of my best friends Rebekah and her sweet Grace

Callie (a dear friend who drove all the way from Idaho) and Kari (my roommate)

Tami Lewis (cousin) and Aunt Nedra... they came all the way from Monticello

They made me wear the bride sash and veil. I felt silly at first, but it was really rather fun

Opening up gifts... I got many scandalous ones, which was SO much fun!

Scott's mom and many of his sisters and sisters-in-law came

My cousin Trisdan, who I haven't seen in years... what a great surprise!

Cousin Ashley and Aunt Donna

Great friend Kim Winterton

"Jessie's Man"

2011-10-13T15:19:00.000-07:00

Scott has been in town for the last week or so and has made a few guest appearances in my classroom. (aka: J-Town) The kids were SO excited to meet him, but I think the secretaries were even more thrilled. Just about every time I walk through the front office, one of the secretaries asks me how "my man" is. I am pretty sure they don't know his real name...

The lead secretary thought she would pull a funny and create Scott his very own visitor tag. (Look at the picture closely...)
He wore it all day! What a good sport.

My Doctor Scott

2011-09-28T19:31:00.001-07:00

Last weekend Scott had a big "white coat" ceremony where he received his official white coat labeling him as a doctor. He still has a ways to go to complete his schooling, but the white coat is symbolic of his training and his soon to be doctor status. It was quite the event. It was much like graduation, where each person got called to the stage, but rather than receiving a diploma, they received their white coat. It was really rather cool. I am so proud of Scott and his hard work. I already called him Dr. Scott prior to this ceremony, but now it's official!

I know this picture is a little blurry, but here is Scott walking in the procession of students at the beginning of the ceremony.

After Scott received his white coat and had returned to his seat, I was trying to take a picture and he turned at just the right moment. Good chap.

Still Racing...

2011-09-17T22:21:00.000-07:00

I recently started a new exercise program called "Insanity" and let me tell you, it is truly insane! The best part is...

I love every minute of it!

I am dripping sweat by the time the warm up is over but...

I love every minute of it!

It works me at an intensity level that I have never been worked before and...

I love every minute of it!!!

I wanted to start the program months ago, but figured I couldn't properly train for a race (in regards to getting miles in) and do this program at the same time, so I figured I better wait until my race was over. Here are some photos from the race. I did the Utah Marathon Relay, where each team has five runners that run approximatly 5.2 miles each to complete a full marathon. I was really pleased with the results and I had a great time as always. This is my fifth year in a row to run this particular race!

Our team took seventh overall and second out of all of the co-ed teams. However, the co-ed team that beat us only had one girl on their team, which in my mind doesn't truly qualify for a co-ed team. It doesn't sound like I am making up excuses does it?

The starting line...

Waiting to cheer Tanner (runner one) one. I was the next runner, can you tell by the look on my face?

Waiting in the chute to get the official hand off from Tanner. I thought the sun made for a very aesthetic photo!

When I saw this picture, I couldn't figure out what in the world I was doing. Apparently I was stretching...

After the race... Yeah for being done!

Here is an intro to my team. Runner One, Tanner Beckstrand

Runner Two: Me!

Runner 3: Barry Beckstrand (the principal at my school)

Runner Four: My roommate Kari Newman

Runner Five: Jake Rees

What a great race! Now for a little insanity!

Saying Hello and Goodbye

2011-08-31T20:11:00.001-07:00

Living long distance from your fiance is not ideal and is certainly NOT fun. There are certain days that I deal with it in a dignified manner and there are other days that I miss him so much I can't help but break down and cry.

I know... I probably sound pathetic.

Scott is living in Henderson Nevada right now and I am still up in Pleasant Grove. I get to see his face on skype every night, which helps, but it's just not the same as having him there in person.

When I get to see him after a long drought, the reunion is always wonderful and everything is once again right with the world. However, as good as the "hello reunions" are, the goodbyes are perfectly dreadful...

I went to St. George and Las Vegas this last weekend and it was wonderful, but the time I got to see Scott was a measly 24 hours and it just wasn't enough. Plus, every time I have to say goodbye, the goodbye's just get more difficult. I am not one to hide my emotion well and I couldn't help but have my eyes get all teary as I had to say goodbye... again...

Every goodbye gets harder.

And harder.

Did I mention that the goodbyes get harder?

I did? Okay. Just wanted to make sure you understood.

I can't wait until I no longer have to say goodbye.

The trip was fantastic, regardless of the fact that it ended with another goodbye. My friends and I stopped in St. George Friday night and saw the Little Mermaid at Tuacahn near St. George. I had a good time, but I always feel bad when I get to go out and do fun things when I know Scott is at home, studying his little heart out. He works so hard and I'm so proud of him.

Saturday morning we headed to Las Vegas, where Scott got to take a break from his books and study groups and join us on a boat at Lake Las Vegas. Wow, what a fun time!! The heat and the water combo was just perfect. Plus, Lake Las Vegas is where Scott proposed!

I got to spend the rest of the evening with Scott. We took care of some wedding plans and we saw the movie "The Help" since the two of us both read the book this summer. The weekend was wonderful and at least this goodbye is only for a week since I get to see him again this coming weekend.

This kind of think strengthens your character right? I know that sounds super cheesy, but I'm trying to look at the bright side of things...

I'm shouting from the treetops...

2011-08-08T22:41:00.000-07:00

In my past relationships, many people felt the need to ask me if I was engaged... all the time... They would ask me this on a regular basis... weekly even. They would even ask if I had only been dating this person for a few weeks...

Did these said people really think that I wouldn't tell them if I had gotten engaged? Did they think I was going to try to hide it from them? Try to keep it a secret?

I think not.

I told them in a joking manner (yet with major serious undertones) that when the blessed day came in which I found the right person to marry, I would be shouting the good news from the treetops.

They wouldn't have to ask to find out... I would definitely make sure they knew. No secrets.

Well folks, I am officially shouting from the treetops (figuratively speaking of course)...

This last weekend, Scott Allen asked me to marry him and I said yes!

I didn't know one person could experience such happiness. Scott was well worth the wait.. Scott is one of the most amazing people I know. First off, he is super skillful. He's got whistling skills, bow hunting skills, tie making skills...

But beyond his incredible skillset, he is loving, kind, a super hard worker, goal oriented, a family man and let's not forget the most important thing... he loves me as much as I love him. December 20th is the big day and I couldn't be more thrilled.

So in case any of you thought I might be keeping such news a secret, I am letting the cat out of the bag. I'm engaged!

I'm a Hobbler

2011-07-09T13:46:00.001-07:00

It has been a few years since I have done a half marathon, so I figured it was time again. I signed up to do one in Springville Canyon called "The Hobbler". I found this to be a very appropriate name, see that I am now walking like a Hobbler!

I followed a very strict schedule for twelve weeks trying to prepare, but I wasn't quite prepared for the downhill. Who ever thinks... Hey, I better go out and practice doing some downhills today?

Yeah, I know.

So I did plenty of miles and speed workouts, but I didn't train on the hills. I am pleased with my overall time, but my knees are super stiff and I have some pretty crazy blisters to show for it.

The best part of the day, besides the fact that the half marathon was over... was that these beautiful flowers came to my door. Two dozen beautiful roses. Scott couldn't be here for my race and he knew that I was super nervous about it. What an amazing guy.

I'm an Aunt... Again...

2011-07-09T13:43:00.001-07:00

Welcome Baby Grant! I am now an aunt to 22 little ones. I am so blessed.

Where in the World?

2011-07-09T13:13:00.000-07:00

My brother Jordan and his wife Lina live in Newfoundland, St. Johns, Canada. For those of you who have no idea where that is, follow a map as far East as you possibly can and you will locate St. Johns. Since it is in Canada, I figured it couldn't be that far away. I was wrong... It took me four planes to get there. St. Johns is so far east, that if you were to go directly south from Newfoundland down towards Florida, you would still be about 1,000 miles into the Atlantic Ocean. Newfoundland is much closer to London than it is to Utah.

I had many fantastic adventures while I was there. It was really fun to be on the Atlantic Ocean. One day, Jordan and I took a whale watch boat ride and saw tons of whales and birds.

We went to various parks and coastline view that were fantastic!

One day we went to an outside natural bird conservatory where over 700,000 birds live. The birds could be heard from over a half mile away... you could smell them too!

There were two sisters in Jordan and Lina's ward that were originally from Uganda! I was very excited about this since I spent my entire summer in Uganda last year. We had them over for dinner and they brought some Chapatti and Beans with them, which was one of my favorite Ugandan meals while I was there. I was so excited!

The trip was awesome!

Long Distance...

2011-07-06T20:43:00.000-07:00

See the handsome man pictured above?

Handsome man = Long Distance

On the 24th of June, I flew out to Newfoundland Canada to visit my brother and his wife. This was a fantastic adventure and one I had been looking forward to, but it was also a rather bittersweet embarkment. While I was gone, Scott (the fantastic guy pictures above) moved. Not to another house...

No, that would be too easy...

To another state...

He started a Physical Therapy Graduate program this week. This means that when I returned home from Canada, he was no longer here. Long distance is not fun, but it can be done. Thank goodness for skype. It's nice to be able to see his face every day, even if it is two-dimensional.

We have many fun adventures planned for the months ahead and I will still get to see him as much as our schedules will allow. Until our next adventures, here are some photos from our last big trip. We went on a road trip with four other friends to Yosemite National Park. It was the first time for either of us to go and the trip was amazing. We hiked to the top of Yosemite Falls, which are the highest falls in the United States. I would love to go back some day. Here are some pictures to document our trip.

Saturday Morning Fun

2011-06-06T22:08:00.000-07:00

I got to go shooting this last Saturday. SO MUCH FUN! There were 8 of us and that means there were a lot of different guns to choose from. My favorite to shoot were the 22 pistol and the 22 rifle. However, I got to shoot a shot gun for my first time and I actually hit three clay pigeons out of the air! I was so proud. What a fun morning. I grew up shooting every once in a while, but I have grown to enjoy it so much more than I remember growing up.

No way...

2011-06-06T22:06:00.001-07:00

I went to a movie the other night and as I was walking out I heard a voice say "Miss Jensen". I was a little confused at this because I teach in south Orem, not the Pleasant Grove area, so I figured it couldn't have been one of my recent students. The voice didn't sound familiar...I turned and immediately recognized the face behind the voice. It was one of my students from my first year of teaching eight years ago. His voice had changed quite a bit since I last seen him, as had his appearance. While I used to be about a foot taller than him, he is now 6'2! I hadn't seen him since he was in fourth grade and he just finished his junior year. I know... it's hard to believe that my first year students will be graduating next year. That ages me a bit... ha ha!

I was SO happy to see him. Just last week I randomly ran into his dad who also recognized me and came up and gave me a big hug. I was thrilled that he remembered me and he was willing to call out to me even though I was in the midst of a large group.

It is times like this that make teaching all worth it. It is the best job in the world. I had a special spot in my heart for this particular student and seeing him truly made not just my day, but my year!

Beginning of Summer Barbeque

2011-06-06T21:28:00.001-07:00

To celebrate the start of summer, I threw my first backyard bbq!! I recently bought my own grill and a fun patio set of chairs with an umbrella and we figured it was time to utilize them. The evening was a fantastic success. It was just the start to many wonderful summer barbeques!

I actually bought a pretty small grill, so Josh brought his big one over as well. They cooked some burgers on his and we did all of the hot dogs on mine. It was a great system. Here is Jake, Kari and Trent lining up for some good grub!

Gina, Blake, Megan, Michelle and Katie...

This picture is one of my favorites. I love these girls so much!

This picture is hilarious in my mind. Jen posed us all and told us how to stand to catch our most flattering side. I do have to admit that I like how the picture turned out! Thanks Jen! Ha ha...

Scott and I like to hang out with these four (Jen, Josh, Craig and Morgan) a lot. We started taking pictures and got a little bit silly...

They weren't pleased when we tried to take their cookies away for the photo... ha ha...

Check out that smolder... you think they got that from Flynn Ryder?

My friend Danielle came down from Salt Lake to join us. She is one of my three "biker chick" friends that I go to Moab with. One of my favorite people!

What a great night!!

Memorial Day Adventures

2011-06-06T21:00:00.000-07:00

Over Memorial Day I went with Scott to Fillmore to see where he grew up. It was a day full of adventures. This picture was taken in front of a rock known as the Iron Curtain, but Scott's family refer to it as "Slobber Rock."

This picture actually shows the rock... can you see where the nick name came from? The rock is lava rock that cooled in a dripping formation that looked like slobber!

We hiked to some sweet Indian hieroglyphics that Scott and his siblings would hike to when growing up.

On our way back from our hiking and four wheeling adventures, we stopped and Scott shot a few "rock chucks". After which we went and sat in some well known hot pots that were the perfect temperature.

This picture is taken in front of his house.

Scott grew up on a dairy farm, so he grew up with 300 cows behind his house and lots of farm land. First thing in the morning, we went on a little four wheeler ride and I got a tour of the farm. It was so much fun.

The calf pens were probably my favorite. They each had their own little house and they were super cute.

Pretty much the weekend was amazing!

Feeling Appreciated

2011-05-10T19:17:00.001-07:00

Wow. Do I feel special? Check.

Yes, yes and oh yes!

This last week was teacher appreciation week, but there were so many things that made the week special and wonderful.

It all began with my sister Jody (who is one of my all time favorite people) flying to town. I am the recipient of an award for Alpine School District called the "Accent of Excellence" award. I was only allowed one guest at the banquet and Jody flew in just for the occasion. We spent days just playing, shopping, running and taking a break. Wow. So fantastic.

The banquet was on a Tuesday night and since Jody was the only one able to attend with me, I was able to get together with my other family that lives close to celebrate at a restaurant on a Monday night.

Tuesday was the banquet and Jody and I got all gussied up. Jody curled my hair and Aly did our makeup.

They gave me a beautiful corsage at the banquet. One of my students attended and paid a tribute and my principal and his wife were in attendance.

One of the sponsors actually presented the award after the student tribute and I had to also say something.

The rest of the week was teacher appreciation week, so I was spoiled for three more days. One day all of my students decided to give me flowers... metaphorically. They decorated me and had a great time. We give each other flowers (metaphorically) all the time in class (something I learned in the schools in Africa) so they decided to give me some flowers this time.

Then they decided to give me real flowers too! They each brought one single flower to create two beautiful bouquets. Another day they each brought me a piece of fruit to fill a huge basket. The PTA fed us wonderful catered food, which sure beat my usual cereal lunch.

Probably the best gift I received was a binder made my my teacher aide. She had all of my students write me a letter and draw a picture to accompany it and she put it all together in a nice book entitled Team Jensen. What a week!!

Spring Break Family Camp Out

2011-04-24T17:02:00.000-07:00

For spring break, I went with some of my family down to Canyonlands for a three night camp out. We hiked through horseshoe canyon (which is the canyon where Aron Ralston cut off his arm) and found some totally sweet Pre-Anasazi Indian hyroglyphics dating to over 2,000 years ago. We also saw a dinosaur trace fossil. I have taught about fossils and Anasazi Indians in my class this year, so I had a great time showing my students some of the photos and telling them how I was able to become an archeologist and a paleontologist over the break.

The kids had an absolute time of their lives. They were such good sports and were sad to go home. Over the three days, we went through Little Wild Horse Canyon (slot canyons) and we went to Goblin Valley State Park. We went to Goblin Valley and played for hours during the day (kick the can, sardines, hide and go seek...). Then we went back in the evening with a full moon and flashlights. So much fun!

Little Wild Horse Canyon

Goblin Valley

We camped on BLM land, so we were able to make a fire and cook smores.

"100 Waffle Street"... The New and Improved Salt Lake City

2011-04-12T19:47:00.001-07:00

In fourth grade, we cover Utah history. One of our main units is all about the Latter-day Saint pioneers that came to settle Utah Valley. One of my favorite activities all year is when we built our own handcart, bring supplies from home, pack it and make our way to the Salt Lake Valley.

The students bring many items that would potentially be packed in a handcart and we weight each item to make sure we don't go over the limit that each pioneer was allowed. Some items were very light and it was difficult to weigh them on my scale, so this student stood on the scale and we had her hold each item to determine the items weight.

Here are two of the boys ready to head to the valley!

The Salt Lake Valley when the pioneers came over, was just that... a valley. So, as a class, we metaphorically took our handcart across the plains and we traveled to the valley to create Salt Lake City. The students learn about the grid system of our roads and have to label them appropriately before we draw out plots of land for each student to build on. Some build homes and gardens, while others set up a grocery store, barber shop or a livery stable.

The day we were trying to label the roads, we were discussing how the temple is the center of the city and then all of the roads are named according to their location from the temple. For example, as you go one block west of the temple, the road is named 100 West. Two blocks east of the temple the street is named 200 East. I was trying to explain this concept to my students. My students often use the phrase "Never Eat Soggy Waffles" to remember which way is North and so forth. So when I asked my students what the street one block west of the temple would be called, one student yelled out "100 Waffle Street!"

We all started laughing hysterically. I decided that as long as the students knew that the REAL name of the street was 100 West, we would add Waffle street as part of the title for our classroom map in honor of this student. (Look closely at the pictures above). He thought it was pretty cool.

I was pretty impressed with how well our city turned out. We are leaving it up for a while. The kids have loved it. They also made mini handcarts that they wanted to park next to their homes and gardens. To finish up the unit, we took a field trip to "This is the Place State Park" where the kids got to pull a real handcart of their own.

Have I ever mentioned that I love my job?!

"We Don't Need No Stinkin' Truck"

2011-04-09T11:13:00.000-07:00

So I finally purchased a table and chair set for my backyard. My roommates went with me and we were super stoked. However, the chairs wouldn't fit inside my car. We tried to think of friends that had a truck that could help us out. However, we decided we didn't need a truck. We are three incredible girls and all we needed was a little twine! Luckily I have a bike rack on top of my car, so we had something to tie the chairs to.

So there we were, parked directly in front of the doors at Big Lots with my roommate Aly yelling things like... "Anyone know how to tie a knot?" People would drive by really slow with their windows down laughing at us. The people walking into the store also thought it was pretty funny. As we drove home, Jen and Aly had both arms out the window holding on to the chairs to be safe. We were quite the spectacle, but the table and chairs made it home! It was awesome!

We don't need no "stinkin" truck!

A Little R & R

2011-03-13T09:28:00.001-07:00

A couple weeks ago, my roommate Jen and I needed a little rest and relaxation, so we decided to take a trip to Manti. We were able to go do a live session at the Manti temple, which was absolutely incredible, we ate at a Ma and Pa diner for dinner and stayed at a little bed and breakfast place. The lady who owned the place dubbed herself as our serrogate grandma. It was a much needed weekend and we both came back with the rejuvination we needed. I highly recommend everyone take the time to do a similar thing every once in a while.

There was a celerium (sp?) at the bed and breakfast where Jen and I spent a few hours reading after church on Sunday

There was a great little piano loft area that we also loved

Here are Mr. and Mrs. Yardley, who we now think of as grandparents. We hope to visit them again soon. They do a murder mystery weekend at their place that would be so fun to do. They feed you a seven course meal and you play a game of clue virtually. They even have a butler type guy that takes your bags to your room. So much fun. I will go back someday.

Rocking Chair Friends

2011-03-06T08:36:00.000-08:00

So I have this theory... the "rocking chair" theory...

I originally got said theory from my best friend Kim when we started referring to each other as rocking chair friends years ago.

I'll explain.

A rocking chair friend is the type of friend that when you are 85 years old, wrinkled and gray (or white in my case... I hope), you can still sit on the front veranda (yes... a veranda), rocking in rocking chairs, sipping a lemonade (or hot coco) and you can feel as though no time has ever passed since the days that you were giggling together in your college dorm room, your work place or your first apartment. Now realistically, you probably spent years and years without seeing said friend, but when you get back together to have your moment in the rocking chairs, it will be as though no time has ever passed.

That is how good of friends you are.

I was thinking about what it takes for someone to fit into this select category and through a conversation with one of my said rocking chair friends, I came up with the answer. In order for someone to become a rocking chair friend, they must have been willing to share their heart with me and I had to have been willing to share my heart with them. Only when people share their hearts with each other can they forge the bond that it takes.

It takes a lot for someone to show another their heart. It makes them feel vulnerable and possibly weak. I have shared my heart totally and completely with my rocking chair friends. They know my joys, my sorrows, my insecurities, my strengths, my weaknesses and they have seen my shout from the treetops with joy and they have seen me sob uncontrollably in times of sorrow. In those times, they have shouted and sobbed with me. Being willing to share my heart with said friends, comes from the fact that I know they will not judge me. They will accept that no one is perfect and they accept that we all have our good and bad times and they stick with you through them all. Everyone has the need to show their heart to people and I am very grateful that I have friends that have been willing to take a little peak into mine.

To all of my rocking chair friends

Thank You.

Pink Shoes

2011-02-24T20:44:00.000-08:00

So I once said how every girl needs a pair of red shoes. I still hold to this sentiment. I have two pairs of red shoes actually and love them both. This is rather funny because growing up, my fashion is what you might have called conservative... REALLY conservative. I don't think I ever let the thought cross my mind to have shoes any color other than brown, black or white. Tan was pushing it.

Seriously.

No longer do I hold such a conservative view on fashion. My newest favorite thing is to own colored shoes. They spark up an outfit and brighten my day every time I look down and see a nice bright color on my feet. I have purple, yellow and of course, red shoes. Well, if you saw the picture from Valentines Day (see previous post), two of my favorite people and I wore a pink cardigan in honor of love day. As I got dressed that morning, I thought how fun it would be to have fun pink shoes to wear with my pink cardigan. Well, this of course came out in conversation throughout love day as Beka, Jamie and I discussed our collaborative efforts with the pink cardigan.

Today was Jamie's last day as a student teacher at our school. She brought Beka and I a gift. You'll never guess what it was...

okay, maybe you will...

Yes, it was pink shoes. Talk about a good start to a good day. I think that tomorrow I will wear pink shoes, regardless of whatever else I decide to wear on top. The pink shoes will make me happy. Beka got a pair of purple shoes just for the record. The three of us scheduled a time to meet up together at the mall in a few weeks. The purpose just being a reason to get together and see each other, but who knows, we might go shopping for some shoes... orange perhaps?

Thanks Jamie.

Living like Louis no longer...

2011-02-22T18:32:00.000-08:00

So some of you may remember my post from last year when I dressed up like Louis Armstrong for my students to model how to give a monologue. Well I decided to be someone else this year. Rather than a black man with a raspy voice, I dressed as a women born in the mid 1800's that was an author and artist... Any ideas on who I am? The prop in my hands is a clue...

Valentine's Day... Good or Bad?

2011-02-20T22:15:00.001-08:00

If you read my post earlier this month, you would know that I have not always been a huge fan of Valentine's Day. However, I was determined to enjoy it this year and celebrate all of the people I love. Well, the day proved to be wonderful. Here are a few reasons why... in no apparent order...

I got this beautiful and lovely smelling bottle of perfume in the mail from my amazing sister. When I went to Seattle over New Years, we went shopping together and found this perfume. I fell in love with it, but didn't get it seeing it was not a need. Jody, knowing I loved it, but wouldn't buy it for myself, purchased it and sent it to me for Valentine's Day. I was so excited! Plus, isn't that the coolest looking perfume bottle you've ever seen?

This picture shows just some of the Valentine goodies that I got from my students. The goodies aren't what made the day great, but being able to celebrate with my students was wonderful. (However, it probably isn't a great idea to post pictures with my students... so the goodie picture had to represent.) Our class party went fantastically... in fact, one of my all time favorite class parties and it was just a great day. Nothing like having little kids around to make a girl feel loved.

I enjoyed a visit from some of my previous students. These three kids in particular come visit me regularly, but it was extra special seeing them on the holiday. I love my students, present and past. Madi, the one of the right, comes to visit almost daily, bringing me a high five and hug with her. It doesn't get much better than that. (Oh, and don't worry, I got permission from all three parents to post this picture.)

I ate sugar. For those of you who know me well, I try to stay away from sugar. Don't get me wrong, I love it, but I try to refrain for a plethora of reasons. However, I decided not to care, seeing it was a holiday, and I ate a ton of it!! It however, proved to be to my benefit because later in the evening when I went running, I felt like bionic women! I was able to run farther and faster than I normally do and I felt great! Maybe sometimes sugar can do the body good!

I got to wear pink. However, I wanted to spread the cheer of pink with the rest of my team at school and we made plans to all wear the same pink. Yes, we're the bomb teachers. The kids thought it was great.

One of the best parts of the day (no picture for this one) was that I was out at 5:30 AM dropping off some special Valentine's for some special friends of mine. I wanted to be to work shortly after 6, so I had to get an early start, but it put me in a great mood for the day. Then for dinner, I participated in what I like to call a "biker chick" reunion. I have a few friends that I go to Moab with each year for a biking weekend. The four of us take our mountain bikes down, get a hotel, bike all day and then relax. We decided that a once a year biking trip in Moab wasn't enough however, so periodically, we get together and go to dinner. It was so great to see them and get the update on the wonderful things that are going on in their lives.

I am so blessed to have so many people to love. Thank you all who took a part in making the day such a great one!

My thoughts on Valentine's Day...

2011-02-09T21:28:00.000-08:00

So I'll be honest... Valentine's Day has never been a favorite of mine. In fact, I have never liked it at any age or time in my life... not even when I was little. It generally always brought disappointment of one sort or another and I think the whole pretense behind it is kind of... well... lame. Setting aside one day that is meant for celebrating those you love? How about celebrating those you love every day?

Just a thought...

However, while I would really rather the day pass as quickly as possible, I decided that I should change my attitude about it a little. Many people think of Valentine's day as a day to celebrate only "romantic" relationships... Maybe this perception comes from the fact that most of my friends refer to it as "single's awareness day"...

Not this year.

Not for me.

Am I single? Yes.

Does that matter? No

Valentine's Day this year is going to be different. I want to use this day as a chance to tell all of my incredible, unique and devoted friends and family, that love, care and support me so intensely, that I love you.

I love you deeply.

I love that you are willing to love me regardless of my weaknesses.
I love that you put up with me, even when I may be having a hard day.
I love that we can laugh together.
I love that I can call you for no particular reason, but we can still talk for hours.
I love that we have things in common.
I love that we are unique and like different things.
I love that we can remain friends even if I don't see you every day, week, month or even every year for that matter...
I love your sense of humor.
I love that we can have fun together when doing absolutely nothing.
I love your willingness to follow the Savior.
I love you for being a good example.

I could go on and on, but at this time I want to say thank you. I TRULY am grateful for the many mortal angels that God has placed in my life that help me in my weaknesses and imperfections. This Valentine's Day, I truly have much to celebrate.

Dancing without music...

2011-01-15T19:08:00.000-08:00

So the video says it all... You can see why I love spending time with my sister Jody. I want you all to know that there was absolutely NO MUSIC playing when the actual dancing took place... only the music that was playing inside our heads. Now that takes talent. Enjoy!

A non-typical girls night out...

2011-01-14T13:04:00.000-08:00

Just after Christmas, I joined in a girls night out with... ya know... the girls.

Girls night out however, doesn't always mean sitting by the pool, drinking cocktails and painting nails. I, along with two of my sister-in-laws and my mom decided to catch a movie. There weren't a lot of options, but the movie of choice turned out to be a shoot-em up, CIA type movie starring Bruce Willis. Which to be totally honest, I was thrilled about. I wasn't in the right state of mind for a romantic comedy at the time...

All four of us loved the movie.

Did it have explosions? Yes.

Guns and weapons? Yes.

Shootings? Yes.

Good and Bad guys? Yes.

Comedy? You better believe it.

We all thought it extremely funny that four girls chose such a movie for a "girls" night out. We apparently were not the only ones there for a "girls" night out however. Directly in front of us, there was another similar sized gathering. However, these weren't just girls, but ladies... three OLD ones to be exact. White hair, glasses, slow walk and all. These three women seemed to enjoy the movie as much as we did. While the activity was not the norm, the laughing, chatting and giggling was still present... with my group and the white-haired posse in front of us.

Apparently "girl's night" out has taken on a different form over the years... and ironically, I think I'm okay with that.

A long time coming...

2011-01-12T17:12:00.001-08:00

A long time dream of mine is finally coming true! Not only do I own my own piano now, but I am taking piano lessons! Growing up I had many different teachers, but they were all folks who knew how to play well, but never had any training on how to teach. I was taught the notes, but never learned the basics of key signatures and other things. I get to take lessons now from a highly trained private teacher, that has run his own studio for over ten years. I am SO excited! Maybe the background in piano I have will now be able to actually be used for something worthwhile and productive!

Unbelievable... Here's the picture!!

2010-12-12T08:43:00.000-08:00

So I went through a few weeks of not getting any sleep... I am still not quite sure how I made it through my days of teachings, but somehow adrenalin or ephinephrin (sp?) or whatever you want to call it, got me through. However, one particular day I must have been really, really tired. The bell rang for school to begin and I opened the door to let all of my little "chillins" through the door. Immediately, one of my students said... "Hey Miss Jensen. I love your shoes." I thought to myself, wow, that was a nice thing to say, so I looked down at my feet as I began to thank them for the compliment and about keeled over in shock. I was wearing one red, shiny, patten leather shoe with a big buckle on my right foot and a black, paisley print shoe on the left. Could not have had two shoes more different... Hilarious! As I thought back to how this could happen, I remembered putting one of each of them one to decide which one I wanted to wear. I remember making a decision, but somehow, the decision never transferred into making the switch. Paul was nice enough to go to my house and get me a matching shoe and bring it to my school, which I was very grateful for... SO FUNNY!

First time to Arches

2010-11-23T17:00:00.000-08:00

Okay... so it was not the first time for ME to go to arches, but it was the first time for Paul. Since he grew up in New Hampshire, he had never been to any of the National Parks in Utah. I couldn't let this be the case considering I grew up with Arches practically in my backyard, so we decided to take a little trip. We spent the day hiking and enjoying the beauty of the red rock before heading to my home town of Monticello for the night. It was fun to see a lot of family. We stayed a night and went to church before heading back up north. It was a great trip!!

Fun in New England

2010-11-22T17:00:00.000-08:00

I have always wanted to go to Boston... so has my sister Jody. We have talked about it many times and for Jody's birthday, I decided it was time we no longer just talk. We invited my mom to come along and we had a fantastic time "bashing around Boston." We walked the Freedom trail and saw a ton of historical sights, toured Harvard, went shopping, saw the Boston Philharmonic and went to museums among other things. It was a fantastic time. Sorry for the pictures turned the wrong direction. I rotated them before uploading them to my blog, but they didn't stay rotated! Enjoy!

These two pictures were taken aboard the U.S.S. Constitution, which is an amazing war ship that was used in the Revolutionary war!

I have a special thing for leaves in the fall. Fall is my favorite season of the year. Nothing like fall in New England!

This lady was one of the tour guides of the Freedom Trail. She wasn't too pleased to take a picture with me, but I wanted to capture her outfit. Love it!

These two pictures were taken in one of the graveyards that house many people from Revolutionary War times, such as Paul Revere and John Adams!

These two pictures were found in the park known as "Boston Commons." Beautiful! We walked through this area many times. There were squirrels everywhere!

At the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra concert...

The famous "Acorn Street." Supposedly, this is the most photographed street in the world!

Harvard! Beautiful leaves on campus!

The famous Harvard Gate

Birthday Weekend

2010-10-18T17:25:00.000-07:00

Well, another year has come and gone. This crazy day meant to commemorate the passing of time was amazing. On my actual birthday, I took a half day off. I only worked until noon and spent the rest of the day with Paul and some of my family. It was amazing! The night before my birthday, my roommates (who are the best roommate in the world), invited a few of my friends over and made a really nice meal and my favorite cake. It looked so gourmet! I felt very loved.

Jen and Aly decorating my cake (cherry chip with cherry icing!)

Ryan and Kristy (my old roommate) came over

Even though I have a lot of candles on my cake now days, Paul didn't have to help me blow them out!

My birthday was on a Monday, but I feel like I got to celebrate all week! Paul and I were able to drive the Alpine Loop and see the beautiful leaves, which is one of my all times favorite things to do. I love fall leaves so much. Followed by a BYU game... a game we actually won I might add...

Another evening, we got together with a few friends to celebrate Halloween and the fall season with a little pumpkin carving and a viewing of the movie "Hocus Pocus". Yes, it is a cheesy Disney Halloween show, but I love it and have to watch it every year.

Suffice it to say, my birthday was one I will remember!

Top Ten

2010-07-29T09:34:00.002-07:00

Seeing that I wrote close to 100 pages of journal while in Uganda, it would be hard to even try to scratch the surface with my experience here. So, I thought that a nice, quick recap could be in the format of a Top ten things I'll miss and the top ten things I won't miss... Here it goes...

Top Ten Things I will miss about Uganda (in no apparent order)

1. Sugar Cane Fields

Sugar can fields can not be found throughout all of Uganda, but I was lucky enough to live in Lugazi, which is surrounded on all sides by huge, green, beautiful sugarcane. I got to take boda boda (motorcycle) rides through them and go running in the early morning. I loved the sugarcane fields. The tea fields weren't so bad either...

2. Ugandan Rainstorms

I love the rainstorms for three major reasons. First off, the storms in Uganda are not just a little drizzle like they are in Utah. When it rains, boy does it rain. It comes down so hard. I loved that. Secondly, it cleared the air of the smoke from cooking and garbage fires (see the things I won't miss list), leaving everything fresh for a little while at least. Lastly, I loved the rainstorms because all of the town shut down. If it rained, then everything got put on hold, even if it rained for hours. So great!! Why don't we do that in America? No, whether it is a major thunderstorm or snowstorm, everyone in the US still makes their way out in the crazy weather and is miserable doing it...

3. Religious themes

Everyone is religious in one way or another. Everywhere we went, the store names or signs on the wall talked about Jesus and I barely met a new person without them saying "God bless you," and other such things... While very few were actually of my faith, it was nice to see the religious themes woven throughout their lifestyle.

4. Boda Boda rides

A Boda Boda is a motorcycle. All in one exhilarating ride, you do just about everything that your mother always told you not to do... ride a bike without a helmet, talk and go places with strangers... man were they exhilarating though. My favorite was to go on rides through the sugarcane.

5. Ladies carrying things on their heads / Men carrying things on bicycles

Wow. The things Ugandan woman can support with their necks is astonishing. My favorite was when I saw a woman carrying an extremely large bundle (large enough you could barely fit your arms around it) of bamboo sticks (approximately 6 feet long), while having a baby strapped to her back and carrying a machete in her hand. Wow, now that's a women!

Men on the other hand, never carried things on their heads, but used their bicycles as a mode of transport for large items. The things I saw men carrying on a bicycle... Wow. Sometimes a mattress, sometimes a bed frame or a goat. Crazy.

6. 5 cent bananas

I've never been a huge banana eater. I like them and all, but they were never the first fruit of choice. However, you can't beat a piece of fruit for only 100 shillings (approximately 5 cents). Plus, I bought them from the ladies that were carrying them on their heads. Once again. Cool.

7. Fruity Mirindas

I am not a big soda drinker, but seeing you couldn't drink the water from the tap, I became one for the 6 weeks I was in Uganda. Fanta and Coke were both big, but there was this specific drink called a Fruity Mirinda that became my favorite. I will miss them dearly.

8. Ugandan Handshake

All Ugandans have a way cool handshake. It is more personable, almost like a secret handshake you might have with your buddy from third grade. It is so much fun and I think I might try it on folks here totally out of habit. Then again, people here don't even really shake hands very much at all...

9. Ugandan dress

All the woman always wear skirts and the men all wear dress pants and collared shirts. They always look nice, even if they are pushing a bed frame on a bicycle up the road. They are just classy people. I thought it was really cool they take pride in trying to look nice at all times regardless of the fact that they have so little.

10. Men holding hands

If we were to see two random men holding hands here in the US, one would consider them to be gay. Not in Uganda. You don't see men and woman holding hands in public. It is just not a part of their culture. You do however see men holding hands with men and woman holding hands with women. You may think that is an odd thing to miss, but I just love what it symbolizes. To see two men holding hands in Uganda, just meant "Hey, this is my comrade, my homie, my bud." I like that they demonstrate their friendships in this way and I will miss having it mean a positive thing rather than a negative.

Top Ten Things I Won't Miss (in no apparent order)

1. Burning Garbage / Garbage in the street

This was one of the hardest things for me to get used to and one that I still couldn't stand by the time I left. I noticed my first week there that you couldn't find a garbage can anywhere. This is because the world is their garbage. Garbage is just thrown in garbage piles throughout the town or just thrown on the ground at any location. Our house garbage had to just be dumped in the corner trash pile. No one has garbage bags, so it is dumped with every little piece of trash flying free. The kids would often be found sorting through our trash. The trash was often burned to get rid of it which left an awful stench.

2. Cold Bucket Showers

We only had water about 50% of the time. When the water was on, it was extremely cold. When we didn't have water, we used the small reserve tanks we had filled and we showered with buckets.

3. Smoke

I struggle with the smoke that comes from campfires when I'm camping... take that smell and multiply it by 10 and have it be constant day and night. I won't miss that. Seeing that everyone cooks most of their meals on open fires outside, the smoke smell really never abated.

4. Public floggings / Child Abuse

Story #1: Our second guard named David was like a Ninja. He was amazing. He caught two teenage boys who had been throwing bricks into our yard almost daily. Since there is no solid legal system in Uganda, punishments are carried out by the community mob. The two boys received 15 public lashings in the streets for their crime.

Story #2: A few of our volunteers and our friend Wilson were at a school. Ashely heard a horrible whipping sound and crying and asked Wilson what it was. He said one of the students had misbehaved in one way or another and he was being beaten as his punishment. Due to the horrified look on Ashley's face, Wilson asked her if she had ever beaten in school. She gave a resounding "No" and he asked if she had ever been beaten by her parents. Once again she gave a resounding "No" to which he responded... "Really? Oh, how sweet.." It is a part of the culture to beat children.

5. Muzungu Price

Muzungu is the phrase that Ugandans use to describe white people. This term can also be associated with being wealthy since they see all white people as being rich. ALL the children called us this and it was an endearing term coming from them. They would often chant it as we passed... "A Muzungu, a muzngu...". However, every time we tried to buy anything (unless we were accompanied by a local) we would be charged muzungu price, which was generally double of the normal price. Let's just say I learned to barter well...

6. Ugandan Diet

Our dinner cooks Eve and Rose

Seeing we didn't have a fridge, microwave or stove and had to make all food on an open fire IF we wanted to cook, our meals were very limited. I ate a lot of sugar (cookies, soda, ice cream and chocolate) since it was available and didn't need to be cooked. Aside from that, the typical Ugandan meal consists of starches and fried foods. Often our dinner would consist of five different options that were all either a starch or something fried. Don't get me wrong, it all tasted great, but it just wasn't a very healthy, balanced diet. I craved lettuce and fresh fruits and vegetables and I don't really even like vegetables. That says something...

7. "No eating on the street" rule

Two of our favorite street vendors

I guess it is just a sign of disrespect to eat on the street, or in public at all, since so many don't have enough food to eat as it is. All I can say is that it was SO much harder than you'd think. Especially when something was purchased on the street. I never realized how much I typically eat on the go.

8. Dim Lights

Once it was dark outside, you just had to get used to living off of a very little amount of light. Any light bulb seemed to be about 15 watt or so. No joke. I often walked around in the evening with my headlamp on all night just so I could see the simpilest things. Plus, I lived in the garage with 7 others (4 sets of bunk beds). Since we were in the garage (as seen in the photo above), we didn't have any windows meaning no natural light and no air ventilation. The flash makes our room look much brighter in the picture than it really was...

9. Mice

Many families of mice made nests in various suitcases throughout our house. We would fondly mention seeing the mouse as he ran by our legs during dinner. We only had about 8 seats around the dinner table and there were 24 volunteers living in our house, so many ate on the floor. This made it easy to spot the mouse as it ran by periodically. The funny part is that as we would make random comments like "Oh, the mouse just ran into your room..." I would laugh. As if there was just ONE mouse. That's a good one.

10. Bomb Scares and Lockdowns

I won't miss having nearby locations being bombed and being put on lockdown in our house with words like "Al Quida" and the "Lord's Resistance Army" being thrown around as the force behind the bombs. Nope, won't miss that...
My favorite quote came from my best friend Kim as we were sitting in our house during lockdown. She said... "Remember how our biggest concern a few days ago was mice?" Good one Kim. It's all relative. On the day of lockdown, all of a sudden the mice didn't seem so bad.

Hopefully this post gives you a little insight into life in Uganda and my experience there. While it was hard in many ways, I'm not going to lie, it was so wonderful and an experience I wouldn't give up for the world. I think the thing that I am going to miss the most however are the people. The wonderful, wonderful people. I made so many fantastic friends and acquaintances that I will never forget.

Bombings in Kampala

2010-07-13T03:14:00.000-07:00

So I awoke yesterday planning on heading to the Mukono district and the Naggalama Hospital to help with the eye camp all day. However, our plans changed quickly when we found out that there had been bombings in Kampala over the evening. Two major venues where the World Cup Championship game was being broadcast were bombed by suicide bombers, killing 70 + people. We were put on a lockdown in our house for the day until we had more fact and less speculation. Some of the speculation that we were hearing was rather scary (Al Quida and the Lords Resistance Army), but it turns out the bombs were by terrorist in Somalia. The location where I am living is in a remote area about an hour and a half from Kampala, and we feel relatively safe being where we are. It is just scary to think that one of the bombs went off in a restaurant right near the American Embassy, which is where I was just a week ago. We are grateful that no one from our team was in Kampala on the 11th. There was another American volunteer from another organization that wasn’t so lucky and was killed. Suffice it to say, I am safe and we are free to go about our work today. I will see you all in two weeks!

4th of July in Uganda... and farewell...

2010-07-07T07:09:00.000-07:00

Who would have thought that the 4th of July in Uganda could be so good. We spent our Independence Day Celebration at the American Embassy in Kampala. I felt like I walked right into America when we entered the place and it was a great pick me up and reminder of back home. I have come to love Uganda, unsanitary conditions and all, but I felt a great sense of patriatism as we spent the evening with other Muzungu's from America.

They had an American bbq, or at least as close to one as possible with the food available here. They also had cultural dancing, drums, performances from the kids of the Embassy workers and to top the night off, we had a great firework show!! We specially requested the "I'm proud to be an American" song, which they played during the show. It brought me to tears immediatly. I don't know if I have ever truly been so proud to be an American.

As for an update on what type of work I have been doing, the work has been eclectic depending on the day. Kim and I have been in charge of the teacher trainings for four different schools. We are finishing up the last training at all of the schools this week and the teachers are receiving a certificate of completion. I am amazed at how excited they are to receive the certificate.

In our spare time, we have been helping out a ton preparing for a week long Eye Camp we are doing. We are providing free eye services to three different hospital areas for three days each. So many people here have eye problems and they can't afford to do anything. We have partnered with an organization that is helping to provide eye surgery's, eye glasses and screening for anyone who comes in on certain given days. It has been a lot of work preparing for, but I am so excited about it!

I also have been helping with an agriculture school project where we are helping a school take the information they teach and make it applicable by teaching students how to cultivate crops and what not. This will also act as a way to generate income for their school.

I can't believe my time in Uganda is almost over. I have less than two weeks. I most likely will not post again while I am here seeing how slow the computers go and you are charged for every minute. However, pictures will come next!

Waylaba for now!! (Luganan for goodbye...)

2010-07-02T07:29:00.000-07:00

Another volunteer had a few photos from the safari on a thumbdrive that I was able to snag, but rather than try to go and insert them into the proper place in my last post, I am putting them here. The internet is extremely slow here and we are paying by the minute, so this will have to do! Enjoy! Many more to come when I return!

Disney, the Big 5 and an Experience I Don't Want to Remember

2010-06-30T01:59:00.000-07:00

For my second weekend trip in Uganda, I took one of my vacation days and went on a full 3 day African Safari in the Murchison Falls National Park. Who would have thought that an Africa Safari would ever truly be checked off my "bucket list?" It will indeed be crossed off.

The guide that took us on the Jeep Safari told us that he had not seen any lions for the past 6 days straight, but I guess we must be doing something right because we not only saw lions, but we saw them from about 15 feet away. We had to completly bring our van to a stop because two large male lions (yes, they had full manes) were walking directly toward us, right on the road. We turned the engine off and dropped our voices and got some incredible photos and film of their faces. It was really rather scary the way they were starring us down. I thought they were going to pounce. However, they sauntered around the outside of our vehicle and continued walking down the road. Aside from this, we saw the other animals that make up the "Big Five"... the rhino, hippo, giraffe, elephant and of course, the lion. We saw many more animals than this (Nile Crocodiles, Water Buffalo, Eagles, Jackal etc..), but these are the 5 that are commonly searched for. We did not however see the illusive Leopard. The second half of the safari was a boat ride down the Nile!

Many of you may be picturing a Savannah landscape that is just brown and full of tall grass. This is not the type of Safari we went on. Picture Lion King. Where they live at the beginning is the type of Safari you are probably picturing. However, as the movie progresses and you meet Pumba and Timon, the landscape changes. Remember how they had lush green vistas and they had waterfalls and whatnot. That is the type of safari we went on...

The Disney connection doesn't end here however. It is amazing how many Disney movies I felt like I was a part of throughout the 3 day experience. We slept in tents that were like the tents in Tarzan. These were not sleeping bag, sit in the dirt tents... Each tent had two beds and a waterproof cover, which was important seeing there was a huge storm both evenings we stayed there. We were also warned that the baboons (which we saw many of) would come up and steal our sack lunches if we didn't protect them. Once again, a reminder of the movie Tarzan.

There were also many warthogs that paraded throught the park and in our campsite. Each time we saw one, we referred to it as "Pumba" from the Lion King. The lions were Mufasa. You wouldn't believe how many times we sang "Hakuna Matata", "The Circle of Life" and "I Just Can't Wait to be King." When we saw the Rhino's and Hippos, we could help but sing the song from Robin Hood where the King's Guards are parading King John through the camp (for those of you who are not Disney experts like myself, the King's guards are rhino's and hippos). Good times. There was a fourth movie that was also references multiple times, but I am at a loss of remembering it.

As for the experience I don't want to remember...

I was coming back from a school that I was working with yesterday and we were taking a taxi. Taxi's in Uganda consist of these little mini-vans that are only legally supposed to fit 14 (which is already overdoing it) but most cram about 20 or more at a time. I have taken many taxi rides since I have been here, all that had more to be desired, but this one will be ever memorable and that is not necessarily a good thing. The taxi we got into was already full, but of course they made room to fit three more full sized adults. One row had 4 people smashed, with the conductor basically sitting on the lap of two of it's passengers.

I am used to being smashed. This is not what made this a memorable ride. First off, there was a man sitting next to us that was a fisherman and had a bag of fish with him. Wow. The stench was horrific! I could barely breath without wanting to throw up everything I'd eaten the last three days. The stench is usually not a horrible problem when people bring in fish or chickens with them because all of the windows are generally wide open. However, on this particular day, we were experiencing one of the crazy rainstorms of Uganda, which meant that all the windows were closed. So, not only was there no air venthilation for the heat, but none for the smell as well. To top it all off, there was a lady behind me that kept coughing right toward me. Since Tuberculosis is something I don't want, but is spread through such things as coughing, I was a little paranoid. So I was pegged in on all sides (one side the van door that was leaking with water, the other side by a smelly man with fish, the front was the seat penetrating my knees and a womans head and from behind a coughing lady that hopefully didn't have tb). Suffice it to say, Kim and I spent the entire 45 minutes breathing into our hands seeing they were covering our mouths to keep us from vomiting...

Best thing from the week:

1- I got to go on a 40 minute run this morning with two volunteers from my team (Megan and Kyle) and we ran through the sugarcane fields. I am used to running many times a week and to be limited in how often I can go has been difficult. It felt wonderful to get out and excersize!! Plus, the sugarcane field are beautiful.

2- I met the greatest couple from Denmark that were staying at the same Tent sight for the safari. I talked with them for hours at meal times and made some really good friends. I love meeting new people and hearing them stories. We exchanged info and they might visit the West. They do a big 4-6 week vacation trip each year, or who knows! Maybe I'll go to Denmark someday!

Random Info: I took my braids out last night. It was fun while it lasted, but it was so heavy and I hated not being able to watch my head. I never thought I'd be so happy to have my normal hair back! Don't worry, when I get back to the states, I will post pictures.

My next post will provide a little more info on what I do during the work days...

Sipi Falls

2010-06-22T00:47:00.000-07:00

Our first weekend off, we decided to head to a place quite a few hours away called Sipi Falls. It might as well have been called the Garden of Eden. It was the most beautiful place I have ever laid my eyes upon. We repelled down a 300 meter waterfall. There was a full rainbow that was perfectly placed behind the incredible fall as we decended and it was surrounded by green. Pictures will be posted when I get home.

We almost didn't make it there and that is a whole story all by itself, but I won't get into that here. We did make it and that is what is important...

I got my hair braided. I now have long ringlet type twists all over my head. You could say I now look half African now... It's kind of crazy!

I am spending the majority of my time in the schools here and doing teacher trainings, but I am also helping with many other projects, such as the Aids Extravaganza and the Eye Camp that we have coming up. Life is busy.

There is so much to say, but so little time to say it. Uganda is extremely different from our culture in about every way possible, but I am enjoying my experience thus far. My next post will share everything about our 3 day safari next weekend!!

First Days in Uganda

2010-06-15T01:35:00.001-07:00

While I already have some phenomenal pictures, I won't be able to post any until I get home due to the resources I have available here. However, I will update hopefully weekly with the things going on.

I have been here two days now and am loving it, although it is quite different than the lifestyle we are all used to. I live at a house that is smaller than my home at in PG, yet is sleeping 25 HELP volunteers. We have three bedrooms and a garage. I sleep in the garage with 7 other girls. Yes 7... We have four sets of bunk beds set up in the garage with one little aisleway in-between.

We have two cooks named Eve and Rose who cook our dinner on charcoal out on the back porch each night. They are so great. We are trying to get them to bend at the knees when they lean over to cook. All Uganda woman bend only at the waist to do anything and it causes them all kinds of back problems. We also have a guard that stays up all night watching the house with his gun each night. His name is Morris and he is great. Some guys tried to climb over our fence a few nights before I got here and Morris had to shoot his gun to scare them away. They say to always shoot one as a warning before they aim at the person... Oh boy...

I already spent time in two different schools, one of which we did some teacher training. It is amazing the types of things they do with the resources they have. The little kids rushed at us yelling "Mazungo! Mazungo!" (which means white person) and they are fascinated with us. Every time a kid sees us as we walk down the street, they yell "Mazungo!" and wave at us. I love it. They often run up and want to hold our hands, but we have taught them "Bongo", which is sort of like "knuckles" in the states. It's so cute. Some of them just come at us with their fists so we can give them a "bongo."

I showered for the first time this morning in 4 days. I know, gross, but our house only has water on half of the time (if that). We fill up reserve buckets and bucket shower when the water is turned off. A shower has never felt so good as it did this morning. It is hot, but we are very grateful for the clouds on overcast days.

It is beautiful here. I took my first boda boda ride (their form of transportation, which is a motorcycle) through the sugarcane fields no our way to an orphanage yesterday. It was exhilarating. Riding a boda boda is doing everything we were always taught not to do... talk to strangers, ride a motorcycle without a helmet etc., but the rides are so fun and we get to see the landscape.

Really Lugazi, which is the town I am in, is everything you would picture of a remote Africa town... women walking down the road with huge water jugs on their heads, men riding bicycles carrying more than we can carry in the trunk of our cars, children running through the streets without pants or shoes on. It's crazy and it's hard to believe I am really hear, but I love my team and am so grateful for this opportunity. I hope to hear from many of you! I will try to update weekly! Sorry if there are grammatical errors, but I don't have much time to edit and the internet connections are kind of sketchy...

Better late than never...

2010-06-04T12:35:00.000-07:00

So I was working on my blog the other day and saw a post that was saved as a draft. This particular post was started about two months ago, but I failed to complete it at that time. In fact, the only thing I had actually done on it was put the above picture. The post was originally going to be about some of the great experiences I had with my students on the last week of school. However, that post never became a reality. Regardless, this picture was so dang cute I couldn't resist still posting it (with permission from the parent).

This is the little brothers to one of my students last year. I held him during our authors fair and he fell fast asleep...

Relay's are addicting...

2010-05-30T18:16:00.001-07:00

So I traveled to two random locations two weekends in a row because I am addicted to relay races. I love the team atmosphere and they are so much fun! Race number one, shown above was held down in Moab. It was called the Moab backside relay. We ran the backside of Moab on the LaSal Mountains... really high elevations and some monster up and down hills, but a great time!! It was similar to the Ragnar, but on a smaller scale. We just had six runners (1 van) and we each only ran twice. My legs added up to just under 10 miles. Not bad! It was around 50 miles total and our team took 6th over all! We also came in first for the all women teams. We already planned to sign up again next year. It was so much fun.

Relay number two was the following weekend and was a little more intense. I flew with 5 other friends and colleagues from Utah to New York to run the New York Ragnar. I have done the Wasatch Back Relay race in Utah twice now, and we decided we wanted to do one in a different location. My mileage added up to about 15 miles this time, but we were basically at sea level, so the breathing was great. We ran from Woodstock to the city and finished at the Hudson. Great times!

My next relay is in September... Marathon relay... can't wait!

House to a Home

2010-05-02T20:59:00.001-07:00

I recently made a comment stating that all I need to turn my house into a home, is a piano. Ahhh... the transformation has been made!! My old roommate and friend owns a piano and needed a home for it. She knew I would take care of it and she knew I loved to play, so she asked if I would "store" it at my house for a while. Boy was I thrilled! I rented a piano with my roommates last year and have truly missed not having one since I moved to PG. My house is now a home. I sit down and play daily and am finally able to get practice time in to improve my playing. I would love to officially take lessons again...

A favorite tradition...

2010-05-02T20:15:00.000-07:00

Tradition: Mountain Biking in Moab
With Whom: Danielle Plester, Erin Thomas and Stacy Freeman
When: Every Spring
Where: Moab

This is one of my favorite trips every year. A nice hotel stay including a dip in the pool, a good hardy breakfast and then a day on the trails with three of the greatest people I know. It doesn't get much better than that.

We have discussed doing a fall biking trip as well... I'm rather fond of the idea...

"Cheese" Party

2010-04-10T18:40:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago, I went to a "cheese party." You may ask, "Now miss Jensen, what in the world is a cheese party?" Well, it happens to be one of the coolest theme parties I have been to in a while. My friend Clay is the master mind behind the operation. Every person who came was asked to bring a different type of cheese along with a garnish to accompany it. (As you can see from the photo, I took grapes and crackers). To assure there were not a ton of duplicate cheeses, a google doc was created so people could sign up in advance, stating the type of cheese they were going to bring. We also had to bring a brief history behind the cheese, you know... Where does the cheese originate etc.

I thought the idea was brilliant and was thrilled to attend. I took a new type of cheese I had never purchased before. It was called Dubliner. The cheese originated in Ireland, named after Dublin, even though the cheese isn't actually produced in Dublin. I tasted many random cheeses that were new to me at the party, garnished with grape juice, fruit, fish, crackers and bread among other things, but my favorite ended up being Dubliner. I think I will definitely buy it again! For those interested in trying it, it can be purchased at Costco!

No Apology Book Tour

2010-04-04T13:49:00.001-07:00

Mitt Romney just came out with a new book entitled: No Apology: The cause for American Greatness. Salt Lake City was one of the many stops on his book tour. I attended and had the most amazing time.

I did a lot of campaigning for Mitt Romney during the primaries in 2007-2008. I went to Iowa and Nevada campaigning and was able to attend and participate in the caucus in both states. It was an extremely insightful experience and I learned a lot about the political process. We ALL have such an important responsibility to educate ourselves and do all we can to make a difference. Regardless of your political views or who you support, I encourage all to get involved and do your part.

A few photos...

Ice Cream Social Bonanza

2010-03-25T20:41:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, I am going to Uganda this summer through a volunteer program called HELP International. I will be there for six weeks and will be working on projects that will help empower people there. To try to fundraise some money to cover the numerous expenses involved, I am throwing a large ice cream bash! Imagine cold stone, home made style! It's going to be great!

As part of the fundraiser, we will be collecting $10 per person at the door. It goes directly to the non-profit organization and it goes to subsidize the expenses of the trip as well as towards the program projects in country.

The clubhouse has a ton of space with a nice fireplace and chatting area to mix and mingle. There will also be a indoor basketball court and a theater room for those who are interested!

Directions to the Belle Monet Clubhouse:

Take exit #275 off the freeway. If coming from the south, turn right. If coming from the north, turn left. Turn left at the first stoplight, then take the first right once on that road. Turn right on Sam White Lane and Belle Monet Condos will be on the right hand side. Take the second entrance and drive to the back of the parking lot. Don't park in any spots that have a number on it. Make sure it says visitor to avoid being towed.

Thanks and I hope to see you there! Feel free to bring friends, but please let them know it is a fundraiser!! Let me know if you can make it so I know how much ice cream and toppings to get! Thanks!

My New Running Philosphy

2010-03-21T14:51:00.000-07:00

I think I have finally found the trick to doing well in races and enjoying them at the same time. It goes a little something like this...

1- Don't train
2- Don't set a goal time
3- Eat some sugar
4- Get very little sleep
5- Don't worry

Apparently this NEEDS to be my new philosophy to running races. I usually train my guts out when I have a race coming up, I don't eat sugar, I go to sleep unusually early and I set a lofty goal time for myself.

In preparation for this race, I have run a little here and there, but not intensely and not massive amounts of miles. I ate a nice banana split and a yummy mint chocolate cupcake the night before the run, I got up at 2:30 to drive down to Moab (getting only four hours of sleep) and I didn't have any major expectations in regards to my time. It paid off!! I felt great!! Not just okay, but great. I kept a good pace and I didn't slow down as I got to mile four and five. I was able to keep the same pace and smile while I was doing it. My friend Ryan gave me some important advice the night before the race. He said... "When you get tired and want to slow down... don't." I was happy to report to him that I took his advice.

Here are the four other friends who ran with me before we headed up the canyon to the starting line. We are doing our "running pose."

We all had to be bused up the canyon near the Colorado River to the starting line. This picture proves that they wanted to assure us that the buses were not "school" buses. It gave us quite a laugh...

Four friends went down with us who were not running. They camped out at about mile 3 to cheer us on. From my stance in the photo, you can see why my friend Mark yelled out that I was having way too much fun. He was right!

Morgan and Jen felt really left out by the fact that they weren't running, so they decided to join us... Oh wait, we were just running so fast, they were catching up to try to get a photo! Ha ha...

The coolest part is that all five of us placed! There were 739 total runners. Jim took 4th overall, Dave took 15th, Jake took 17th, I took 52nd and Kari took 78th. Plus, Jake, Jim and I all took first in our age group, so we got a sweet Kokopeli trophy. Dave took 2nd in his age group and Kari took 3rd in her age group, which means we all went home with either a trophy or a medal. Talk about exciting! Here is a photo afterward with our awards.

The fun of the day didn't end here however. We spent the remainder of the day hiking and exploring Canyonlands. For those of you who know me well, you know that the southwest and the Colorado Plateau brings me extreme joy! I love the West and I love Utah's National Parks. The day was amazing and there isn't much that could have made it any better. Here are some additional photos in no apparent order...

This trip definitely made my top 5 list in regards to adventure trips. Good friends, good food, good times.

Times like these...

2010-03-11T14:53:00.000-08:00

I was working late in my classroom one night (nothing new) and out the blue, these three great kids sauntered into my classroom...

If you can't tell the resemblance, these three are siblings. In my past 6 years of teaching, all three of these kids were my students. The youngest is in my class right now and the oldest is now in 8th grade at the junior high. The oldest invited me to come see him run at his track meet coming up. Will I be there? You bet I will.

It is visits from past students like these that make me remember all the late nights in the classroom are well, well worth it. It gives me hope to think that I actually am making a difference.

100 Mile Success

2010-03-05T18:22:00.000-08:00

My first century is complete! While the weather conditions were not ideal, I had an amazing time. Lynn, Cami, Barry and I (shown in the picture above) rode the entire ride together.

It was 41 degrees when we started. Add the wind chill and it made for some very icy fingers. It took us 7-8 miles to thaw them out even with full fingered gloves. We began in Bloomington, headed to Hurricane and made our way to Laverkin.

The entrance to Zion National Park was the 60 mile mark and the turn around point. We also met up with a few other friends here. The twenty miles prior to the turn around were very difficult. There was a head wind that caused us to have to pedal very hard, even on the downhills!

After lunch, we actually had a bit of a tail wind and were going at a very quick pace, but Lynn got a flat tire so we all stopped until the tube was successfully changed.

The last three hours made for lots of rain and a flat tire on my bike as well, but we had such a great time. Here we are after finishing up. We were all soaked, not to mention freezing. However, regardless of the weather conditions, I had the most amazing time. I can't wait for next year!

Looking Like Louis...

2010-03-04T22:35:00.001-08:00

So last week was "Mountain Wo-Man" and this week was Louis Armstrong! Aside from the long red hair, I think I'm the spitting image don't you think? Of course in my hurry to change my clothes, I didn't think to take my earrings out. One of my students asked if Louis wore earrings!

Mountain "WO"man

2010-02-25T22:45:00.000-08:00

Here I am as a Mountain "Wo"man! I dressed up as a trapper today to go along with our discussion of Utah History. The kids loved it. It's kind of funny the things we do for learnings sake. Next week I get to dress up and speak to the class as if I am Louis Armstrong. I'm going to do the raspy voice as best as I can. I might even sing a little ditty. What we don't do for the children...

I love it!

Collaboration Takes on New Meaning...

2010-02-25T22:26:00.000-08:00

Alpine School District is a great advocate for collaboration among colleagues and team members. Well, the teachers at my school are so dedicated to their jobs that collaboration has been taken to the next level. It all started out like this...

On another day it looked a little something like this...

At this point was taken to the extreme when Mr. Crow (another fourth grade teacher) and I dressed the exact same. I know... that is not something I should admit and I apologize there is no picture to document the momentous day. We both had on blue and white striped collared shirts and kahki's. Well the other teachers got such a kick out of our incidental "collaboration" that we thought for a little humor relief, we would stir the pot a little and this is what we came up with...

I know... Mr. Crow puts up with a lot from us girls...

The first grade teachers thought our "collaboration" was so funny that they decided to do a little collaborating of their own as you can see below.They recruited the second and third grade teams to join them.

Who would have thought that collaborating could be so much fun!

House Decorating Part 2

2010-02-14T16:21:00.000-08:00

The housing projects continue...

I couldn't resist putting up some vinyl to add some character to my new little place. I think they all turned out great! Here are some photos... The place is coming. It really just needs a piano, then it will really feel like home! :)

A chance to give...

2010-02-07T07:20:00.000-08:00

Uganda 2010

Please take a few minutes to watch the video below...

HELP International: Uganda 2008 from HELP International on Vimeo.

As many of you already know, over the past three years, I have kept myself busy by taking a sabbatical from teaching to explore administration and complete my Master’s degree in Education at Brigham Young University. In 2009, I successfully defended my thesis and graduated with my Master’s and at the same time, opted to return to the classroom to teach fourth grade. Completing my schooling and returning to the classroom setting has provided me with some time this summer to participate in a life-changing and goal-fulfilling experience. I have been accepted as a volunteer intern with HELP International in Uganda (www.help-international.org). The acronym of the organization stands for Help Eliminate Poverty and it strives to carry out this mission of sustainable development by teaching people how to be social entrepreneurs. During the summer of 2010, I will assist in developing and carrying out humanitarian service projects as well as teach self-reliance principles among poor villagers.

One of the unique aspects of HELP International is its ability to leverage a single donation to make a broad impact. Your donation helps to link different groups of people to maximize each groups’ strengths for the benefit of the poor. I have the time, mobility, health and energy to serve abroad. However, in order to participate, I am required to raise a significant amount to cover the part of my living expense while I am there as well as cover some of the resources needed to carry out the projects and programs. I invite you to invest in our work and become a partner with a contribution to the cause. Together we can create real and meaningful change in the lives of many people. I will be keeping and updating a blog throughout the six week experience that will show regular updates so you can know just where your donation went. You and your family can experience stories and photos of the projects and the people in Uganda you are helping.

The current economic situation has an effect on each of us and our families. This crisis has likewise created even greater destitution, poverty, and hunger for those living in the third world. But nonetheless, I am inviting you to join with me to serve the Ugandan people by donating $35, $50, $75, $100, $250 (or whatever you can). Checks should be made out to HELP International with my name “Jessie Jensen” on the memo line.

Feel free to donate on-line as well. Go to the HELP web-site and click on “donate now”. Place my name on the prompt line. If you’d like more information please visit the HELP International website at www.help-international.org or you can contact me.

We have all been so blessed! Thank you so much for your support and friendship over the years. Your help is appreciated more than you know

PLEASE NOTE: Funds raised herewith are donations to HELP International, to be used at HELP International's discretion. Donations are non-refundable. HELP International is a 501 (c)(3) tax exempt nonprofit charitable organization. Your contributions may be tax deductible. Consult your tax advisor.

House Decorating

2010-01-09T10:43:00.000-08:00

It takes quite a while to make a new house look like a home, but I am trying to do a few little decorating projects here and there. Here are a few pictures of the most recent projects I've been working on... my bedroom and the front entry way.

So fun, so fun...

The Holidays in Seattle

2010-01-02T11:28:00.000-08:00

A view of Mt. Rainier

I went to Seattle for Christmas to spend some time with my sister and her family. I love going to Jody's house. Here are a few pictures of the wonderful three days I spent in Seattle.

Snowshoeing Season has Begun

2009-12-20T18:11:00.000-08:00

Snowshoeing has begun! My friend Dustin Randall called and asked if I wanted to head home this weekend and snowshoe into Bronson's cabin. I couldn't resist. So I took a personal day from work, called my friend Christina and spontaneously headed down to Monticello to start the snowshoeing season out right. We met up with Dustin, Scott Frost, Morgan Barton, and their friend from Sweden named Linus. It was an amazing trip. The snow was great! Here is a little picture walk through our trip...

Here are the boys just after strapping their shoes on to head out

Christina and I were already ready to go...

My first slip of the trip... I stepped on my own show when I stopped to take a picture... When I tried to move, I went down pretty quick...

My friends have good taste in gear

We made it the cabin in just enough time to get a fire started and dinner cooking before the sun went down

We made tortilla soup and had jalapeno cheese bread... plus, a lot of "comfort" food as Linus liked to say...

Inside the cabin, packing up to head out

The group before leaving the cabin. Nice view of the mountain...

I thought this picture was quite a work of art... we all tried to catch the icicle just as it dripped

Check out the cool shadows from the trees

Scott crossing the meadow... another great view of the Abajo's...

The sunset on the drive home

How well do you know your Christmas Carols?

2009-12-17T21:24:00.001-08:00

To emphasize the importance of word choice and to teach great skills such as how to use a thesaurus, my students have been working on quite a fun little Christmas holiday writing project. I gave each student the lyrics to a fairly well-known Christmas carol. After finding all of the common nouns, actions verbs and adjectives, students began changing the words, creating their own song lyrics, while keeping the same message as the original song...

...They turned out so funny that today I was in tears I was enjoying myself so much as I read them. Here are a few snippets! See if you can name that tune while looking into the thoughts and imaginations of some fourth graders!

Kris Kringle is Approaching the City

You better look out, you better not bawl, you better not wine, I'm telling you why... Kris Kringle is approaching the city. He's writing a record and monitoring it twice, gonna find out who's mean and giving. Kris Kringle is approaching the city...

Answer: Santa Claus is Coming to Town

Above the Roof

Up on the roof, Buck's wait. Out leaps great, old-aged St. Nick. Descending down the fireplace with a load of good, all for the small ones holiday happiness. Ho, ho ho, who wouldn't hit the road? Ho, ho ho, who wouldn't hit the road? Up on the roof, bang, bang, bang, descending through the fireplace with great Santa Clause...

Answer: Up on the Housetop

Bobsled Tour

...Come on, there are enchanting elements for a bobsled tour together with you. Hurry up, hurry up, hurry up, let's cruise. Let's view the fireworks. We're touring in a paradise blizzard. Hurry up, hurry up, hurry up it's majestic, just embracing your hand.. we're gliding along with the lullaby of a frosty fairy land...

Answer: Sleigh Ride

Freezing Dream World

Sleigh alarms ring, are you listening? In the road, snow fall is sparkling. An appealing sight, we're gleeful tonight, cantering in a freezing dream world...

Answer: Winter Wonderland

Jogging around the Pine Tree

Jogging around the pine tree at the night party celebration. A plant hung where you can look, every husband and wife tried to stop. Jogging around the pine tree, let the holiday spirit sound like bells. Later we'll have some yam pie an we'll do some Christmas singing...

Answer: Rockin around the Christmas Tree

I needed a good happy laughter today and these song lyrics did the trick!

I keep moving, moving....

2009-12-15T20:03:00.000-08:00

I have relaxed a lot over the last few years of teaching. I hate to admit it, but I think I was kind of a dictator my first few years... Don't get me wrong, I still keep very strict order, I'm just not afraid to be spontaneous and have fun anymore.

Take today's science lesson for example. We were doing a review for our Science test on the "Water Cycle." I have a "water Cycle" rap song that I decided to share with them as part of the review. We went over the words to the song as a shared read before I let them hear the music. As soon as I turned the music on, they all naturally started bobbing their heads and swaying their shoulders. I asked them if they wanted to get up and dance. There was a unanimous YES!! So we decided to have a little class dance, right then and there, stopping only to sing the chorus...

"I rise to the air from the sea below, then down to the ground as rain and snow, I keep moving, moving, cause I'm the water cycle... moving, moving, cause I"m the water cycle."

My favorite was when even my shy quiet girls were demonstrating the water cycle with their arms as they grooved to the beat. Yes, they demonstrated, evaporation, precipitation and they had a special move they created for every time the song said "water cycle."

I love being a teacher.

Uganda here I come...

2009-12-12T21:31:00.000-08:00

So it's true... I am going to Uganda next summer for six weeks as a service volunteer. My friend Kim Hall is going with me and I couldn't be more thrilled. I have always wanted to do such a thing and who knows if I will ever have the opportunity again. We are going with a company called HELP International that was started by a few BYU professors ten years ago. Our responsibilities will range from working with kids in schools, to construction, to health education for adults. I can't wait. What a life-changing opportunity.

House Warming Party

2009-11-22T13:56:00.001-08:00

I had a house warming party last night with many of my close dear friends. It was so fun to host such a social event in my new home.... Ahh, I like the sound of that.. my home... I made a seven layer dip, had the famous mango salsa from Costco and I made my first cheese ball. It turned out pretty dang good if I do say so myself.

I figured the cheese ball needed a close up...

This is my colleague Rebekah. She is one of my favorite people. We both teach fourth grade and have so much fun together. She got me a rice cooker and not just any rice cooker, but a red one. She saw the color scheme in my front room and decided to add to it. She did a great job decorating the wrapping. Each side of the gift had a very special note on it.

Six of the eight folks from our Havasupai trip earlier this year were there, so
we had to get a reunion picture! It was so great to see them all!

A few other pictures of great friends...

This is Cherise and the twins Kali and Kaitlin. They are a part of my dinner group.

I work with Halle and Gina and I was so glad they could both come!

This one is Clay. I hadn't seen him since the STP road trip we took in July, so it was extra fun to catch up.

This is Cody (good friend from high school) and Keri (friend I met through the frisbee club team).

This picture shoes Dave and Sam, who go all the way back to Campus Plaza days, Keri, Jake (Macey's Boy) and Mark

To top the night off, my cousin Heather stayed the night. She had driven down from Salt Lake for the party and decided to stay. We stayed up talking until 4:00 AM! I can't remember the last time I stayed up that late. It was so great catching up with her.

All in all, a very successful night! I love people and my associations with them are very important to me. It brought my heart a lot of joy to see so many people I care about.

I'm a "real" adult now...

2009-11-09T20:11:00.000-08:00

So I figure that having a mortgage now qualifies me as a real adult. I finally bit the bullet and bought my own place. I would have done so years ago, but I wanted to wait until I was done with my graduate degree. Since I graduated in August and have no more tuition to pay, it was time!

It has been so much fun. I took a day off work and Kristy came over and we went shopping for all of the stuff you need that you didn't realize you needed, like a garbage can, toaster, broom, microwave and the list goes on. Here are a few pictures from the moving in process and of the house.

Kristy had to take a picture of our Target excursion... It looks like I'm a contestant on Supermarket Sweep!

After we made it home with all the goods, Kristy helped me to assemble...

Here we are after hanging up pictures and finishing all of our assembling projects

A different view of the living room that shows my favorite feature of the room... the red wall!

The kitchen

Joe and Dave are going to come put shelves in my garage and hang some hooks so I have a place to hang my bikes. It is so fun to have a real home... a home of my own. I have the place to myself for this month before I have a roommate move in and I am enjoying it thoroughly!

A nasty trick...

2009-10-13T21:43:00.000-07:00

So someone played a nasty trick on me tonight. The trick wasn't meant for me necessarily, but I was the lucky girl to fall into its grasp none-the-less.

I headed out to go to the gym tonight for my daily run. The gym in the evenings is especially busy and tonight was no exception. The place was packed and I was excited that there was one treadmill still left open. I don't like wasting the time waiting for a machine. (For the record, I would go outside if I could, but I won't go after dark by myself, which means I go to the gym often...)

So I parked myself next to the only open treadmill and went to set my jacket and keys down. At the same time, I stepped my foot up onto the base of the machine. Ha ha, funny joke! Someone had left the machine running! I'm sure you can picture what happened here... Yes, as soon as my foot hit the runner, my body went down. Talk about embarrassing. I some what caught myself on the rail, but I can only imagine what I looked like.

The guy on the treadmill next to me quickly jumped off the machine to make sure I was okay. I tried to compose myself and brush it off like it was no big deal, but I can only imagine what I looked like.

So word of advice... Sometimes people like to leave the machines running when they are done with them. Look closely before stepping onto treadmills! You might end up with some sore knees!

The Joys of Childhood...

2009-10-04T19:24:00.000-07:00

When I was younger, there was nothing I loved more than Art. I LOVE art. Getting markers, crayons, pastels, paper, or anything else that had to do with art on my birthday or Christmas was like a dream come true. I can't count the amount of coloring contests I entered...

I have been given the opportunity this year to teach an after school art class for 3-6 grade students. Thus I have taken some time out of my hectic schedule to return to my childhood love and explore art once again. My sister-in-law Marina teaches an art class out of her home once a week and she has shared some cool ideas with me. In-between conference sessions today, we had a little "art hour." Here are some of the projects that resulted. Doesn't the self portrait look just like me!

Sunday Morning Excitement

2009-09-27T15:00:00.000-07:00

As I pulled into the church building this morning, there were herds of people hanging out in the parking lot... odd. As I parked and joined the crowd, I found out that there was a fire drill of sorts at the church. I don't know if it was truly a drill or if it was a real scare, but firemen and a ambulance showed up. It was kind of odd to experience a fire drill outside of a school setting. Suffice it to say, Church had an exciting start today!

So I told a falsehood...

2009-09-16T19:57:00.001-07:00

So my last post saying that I am "all raced out," is apparently a lie because this blog post is a call to you all, possibly a plea, to have you all come run a race with me. Let me explain...

This race is called the PiMi. I have a friend that started this race two years ago as a way to raise money for a charity. They invited me to be a part of the team that puts on the race last year and I am now an official member of the "PiMi" team. Pi stands for the number 3.14 and Mi stands for mile, creating a 3.14 mile race... in case you hadn't put two and two together yet...

Really long number, really short race. This year there is not only a 5K, but there is also an option to do a 10K relay. I have five good reasons why you should run this race... hear me out...

Reason #1: All of the proceeds go to a charity... this year being the Women's and Children's Crisis Center. There are so many that have so much less than we do and this is a great way to help out some of those folks.

Reason #2: If you know me, you probably know a lot of my friends... many of whom have already committed to run. Yes, this includes co-workers, neighbors, friends, my chiropractor... what better race to run than one with friends!

Reason #3: Everyone needs a little motivation to get in better shape!

Reason #4: You can be a part of the elite group of people who own a t-shirt that has a "pi" symbol on the back. Everyone who sees you will think you are extra smart.

Reason #5: Consider it a birthday present...

The date of the race is Saturday, October 10th. If you are interested, check out the website to register at

thepimi.com

Hope to see you there!

All raced out...

2009-09-12T21:17:00.000-07:00

I have participated in a ridiculous amount of races this year... my race budget has by far been surpassed. I participated in another race today... a marathon relay. I did it for the first time two years ago and quickly became hooked. This was my third year to participate and it was again a success! Last year they capped the registration to only 50 teams, but this year they let it stay open and we had 97 teams. We took first place in our category and got first place medals! It was very exciting.

However, I am a little raced out. I need a little break. It has been difficult for me to keep a very strict training schedule with school starting... I might just take a little break for a while... not from running, but from racing. Here are the pictures from all of the exchanges today.

Runner 1: Dave Kroupa
Runner 2: Jessie Jensen
Runner 3: Barry Beckstrand
Runner 4: Nick McCombs
Runner 5: Cami Larsen

Exchange 1

Exchange 2

Exchange 3

Exchange 4

First Triathlon

2009-09-06T07:19:00.000-07:00

I completed my first triathlon up at Bear Lake last weekend... sort of. I can't take credit for completing the whole thing on my own because I had a relay team and I just did the biking portion of the race. However, it was still a triathlon and I loved it! This was the first time for me to race my road bike and I think I'm hooked.

This is Jake. He was our swimmer. He also works for Alpine School District as an English teacher and he helps in coaching the swim team. I met Jake at the grocery store a few years ago... yes, the grocery store. Jake and I became friends at Maceys!

This is Nick. He was our runner. Nick has been in my ward for the last year. He used to run for BYU and he is a phenomenal runner.

My roommate Cherise is the one who invited me to do the triathlon. She and her brother did the full Olympic on their own. I thought it would be fun to join them, so Cherise, her brother Dallas, his wife Natalie, Jake, Nick and I left for Bear Lake Friday afternoon. We stayed the night at a cabin there so that we could get to the race start nice and early. This is a photo of Jake, Cherise, Nick and I just before the swim was about to start.

For triathlons, one has to be marked. The race officials take permanent markers and write your race number on both sides of your arm. They then write your race category and age on your legs. I didn't know this was how it was done, but we thought it was really funny. Here is Cherise and I at the end, showing our team numbers. They had already started to wear off by this point.

My relay team ended up taking first out of all the other team entries! We were pretty excited. Jake had to swim 1 mile, I had to ride 25 miles and Nick had to run 6 miles. We finished in 2:21.33. We were very pleased with our time and placing, especially when we found out that we beat the second place team by 10 minutes! I want to try a sprint triathlon on my own someday, now that I know how the exchanges work and things like that. I just wish I liked to swim more. Here are a few more photos.

Here is the exchange between Jake and I. He is trying to get the timing chip off his ankle so he could pass off to me. Ironic that there is a Macey's sign in the background! Ha ha....

There I go... 25 miles to go...

Here is Cherise on the bike

Done and done...

A group shot before we took off to head home

What a great experience!

Staying Informed...

2009-08-29T22:34:00.001-07:00

I hate the feeling of ignorance. There are so many issues and debates going on in our country that I feel I know far to little about. Last year, I had the opportunity to do some campaigning for Jason Chaffetz, the man who replaced Chris Cannon as Utah's Representative. Last week, Jason spoke at a Town Hall meeting. I invited my roommate to attend with me. It was an open question/comment session open to the public. Aside from the few heated moments (which were actually hilarious) ...I loved being there.

I love learning new things about what is going on in our country and doing my part to be informed. Cherise and I created a list of things to look up and research as topics were discussed at the meeting that we had little background information on. I hope I have more opportunities in the near future to educate myself on more important current affairs, so I can voice an opinion with the confidence that I know what I am talking about.

I hope you all do the same! It is our job to make sure we keep informed! :)

Best Friends Wedding

2009-08-26T19:28:00.000-07:00

Wow. In another four months, Kristy and I would have been roommates for 5 years. Who would have thought? It was just happen stance that we moved in with one another in the first place, but we became great friends and have stuck together every since. It is really odd not having her around and I miss her terribly, but I couldn't be any happier for her. Here are some photos of the great day!

Every year Kristy and I lived together, we lived with two different girls. Here are three of our roommates, from three different years that we lived together.

Kristy and Ryan

Kristy and I at her reception

I have become very close to Kristy's family over the years. This is with her mom "Pearl", and her sisters Alisha and Lindsey

It rained the morning of her wedding, but we thought the umbrellas added character to the photos

After my first week back at work, having tons of company and graduating, I was a little bit tired at the wedding festivities. I feel asleep at the wedding luncheon. It's a wonder I didn't fall over, but everyone got quite a kick out of it!

"Master Jensen" Part 2

2009-08-22T21:52:00.000-07:00

So I am now officially Master Jensen. I defended my thesis back in June, but I am now official on BYU's records as having a Master's Degree. I thought this day would never come... literally. There were times I didn't think I'd make it through, but that small little fact made graduation day even more sweet. Both of my parents came, as did three of my siblings and their families. It was a big deal for me to have family there and I am so grateful I was able to have so many loved ones there to celebrate with me.

It was especially special to have my sister there. She drove down with three kids, one of which is only 4 weeks old.

One of the professors from the Education Department

After commencement, I went to a dinner at the Hinckley Center with three other girls who graduated from my cohort.

My friend Clay also graduated. We ran into each other as we were lining up to enter the Marriott Center.

Mom got the flower lei's for me

The girls loved wearing them!

I'm so grateful for all of those who have supported me the last three years in my pursuits to get a higher education. I couldn't have done it on my own.

The Church around the World

2009-08-16T09:59:00.000-07:00

I got to attend church while I was in Costa Rica. The meetings were in Spanish and I understood very little, but the spirit still touched me. It reminded me of my trip to Israel and Egypt last year when I got to go to a little ward in Cairo that only had about 15 people there total, including the bishopric. This experience reiterated to me that the church is true no matter where you are in the world and I am so grateful for my membership in it. I love the gospel!

The World 's Second Greatest Calling

2009-08-13T19:22:00.000-07:00

Okay, so we all know that the greatest calling in the world is that of parent. However, the second best calling is... AUNT! I may not have kids of my own at this particular time of my life, but I am lucky enough to be "Aunt Jessie" to twenty. While my sister Jody was here in town, her girls wanted to have a "girls" sleepover at my house. I was more than happy to oblige. There were only 6 of my 12 nieces in town, but we had a blast!

First off, two of my nephews joined us for a movie. We went to see Night at the Museum...

Followed by some pizza and games in my backyard...

A few hand games and sleepover fun!!

I love being an aunt.

The other side of me... and Deiter F. Uchtdorf

2009-07-31T08:45:00.000-07:00

Ellen Eccles Opera Theater in Logan Utah

No, I am not making reference to the often heard cliche of Hannah Montana. I am literally referring to the other side of me that I feel that most people don't know. Most people think of me as this adventurous, outdoor, sporty type person, but while I do love to do these type of things, I also have another love.

I sometimes think I was born in the wrong generation. I think I would have fit in well in the early 1900 when people dressed up to go out. When people wore white gloves and attended the theater. I love going to the theater and NO, I am not talking the movie theater. I am referring to the theater of other art forms. Last week I spend time seeing 6 plays at the Shakespeare theater in Cedar City and 2 plays at the Tuacahn Ampitheater in St. George. This week however, I have been up in Logan for the Opera Festival and I have seen productions of Carmen, Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci (all sung in Italian with English subtitles), Mikado and Camelot.

It is thanks to my Aunt Ruth that I get to do this each year (I'm going on 9 or so years...) and she always gets the best seats; 4th row center. I turned around during the second intermission of Carmen yesterday and realized that kind of crowd I was in. There was a sea of white heads surrounding me. Out of the hundreds of those in attendance, I very well could have been the youngest.

This didn't bother me. I actually kind of revel in it. Then I noticed that 5 rows directly behind me sat Dieter F. Uchtdorf. It is through attending the Opera over the years that I realized how much the apostles also love the theater. While sitting in this same theater over the years, I have also seen Elder Maxwell, Elder Nelson and Elder Perry in attendance. While at a different theater, I also ran into Elder Oaks. Now I can add President Uchtdorf to that list.

Another performance we attended while here was a show dedicated to the music of Rogers and Hammerstein. I grew up watching musicals and am very familiar with the music of The Sound of Music, The King and I, South Pacific, Oklahoma, Carousel etc. I once again had that feeling that I was born in the wrong generation when toward the end of the program, the conductor turned and had the audience join in singing with the artists. Yes, I knew the words and I joined the sea of white heads in singing along to the wonderful music of Rogers and Hammerstein.

So while many of you think that outdoors and adventures is the only thing I am about... think again. There are a lot of sides to me that most don't seem to know.

What constitutes home?

2009-07-30T09:45:00.000-07:00

Watching the Monticello Parade

I went to my hometown of Monticello last weekend for a family reunion. We had the entire Buckboard camp sight reserved for our family. It was so good to see all of my relatives and be able to spend time on the mountain. I felt at home on the good old Abajo's. There is nothing quite like the Blue Mountains... I got to camp, see the stars, bike up the Blanding road... Ahh, it was so refreshing and it brought back a lot of good memories.

Ironically, when I was back in town for the big 24th of July parade, I didn't feel so at home anymore. I grew up in Monticello from age 4 until I graduated and left home at 17. However, it just felt odd and it was hard to be there, even though I know just about everyone in town. It made me think about what really consitutes "home". The actual house I grew up in is no longer my house, but I don't think the building itself is what constitutes home... It's an odd thought...

Either way, it was so great to see the family!
Here are some photos from the reunion

Heather and I with some of Andrea's kids

The family talent show is always a highlight. Here is Julie's son Tanner doing a nice rendition of Elvis

Haley and I... she now has 2 kids!

Some of the Bunker clan at dinner one night

Sam, watching his fishing pole like a hawk... or maybe not so much...

We actually did catch some fish however...

There was a little pony that the kids loved to ride

While I was home, I also did the Lloyd's Lake 5K. My time wasn't all that great considering I'd been camping for two days and eating lots of brownies, but it was fun to run with my brothers, cousins and nephews. Plus, it was in Monticello, which means I knew most of the runners. My old cross country coach was there as well, which made it extra cool. I'd also like to say that I beat one of the girls that as the #2 runner on our team back in the day... I guess it is only fair to mention that she is 6 months pregnant though!

This was the first real official 5K for Adam...

The course around the lake is the same course we ran for our XC in high school. It was great to run it again. We got a little rained on...

At the starting line

Jordan won the race, not surprisingly!

Trisdan didn't run the 5K with us because she did the triathlon in Blanding instead. It's good to see she is still running too. We ran XC together all through high school.

The Second Dirtiest Tourist Attraction

2009-07-12T20:50:00.001-07:00

I went up to Seattle this last weekend to act as the support vehicle for a few friends who were riding in the "Seattle to Portland" bike ride. While we were there, we went on a few adventure in Seattle. One attraction we visited is known as the second dirtiest tourist attraction in the world; the first being the blarney stone in Ireland. It's known as the gum wall. There is a wall at Pike Place Market where everyone sticks their gum... talk about germs. Sick. It was pretty cool to see however. We all added a piece of our own gum so we could say we left our mark..

Nothing like the 4th of July...

2009-07-05T18:53:00.000-07:00

The 4th of July in Provo is the best. Not only are there so many things to do with the Freedom Festival, but everyone in town participates. Talk about feeling patriotism! For those of you who know me well, you know that the day started out with a 5K. I ran with a couple friends. There were over 2,000 runners!

Following the race, we went to the parade. The highlight of the day however, was our bbq party. This was our 5th annual and it was a huge success. The boat of beverages made another appearance (which is my personal favorite). I love the 4th of July!

Here is Nate and I with the boat of beverages!

A view of our backyard from the balcony

Emily, Michelle, Nate and I (Nate and Emily both drove down from Arizona... It was so good to see them!)

We had quite the spread...

Nate and I enjoying the fantastic weather

Ian and Ryan were in charge of the barbequing

Joslyn, Kristy and I (Joslyn was our roommate before she got married)

Kristy and her soon to be husband Ryan (check out the view of the mountain)

Mom Plessman (Kristy's mom) was in town again and we were so glad! Here she is with Colton

The day was a great success! Quite the tradition...

"Master Jensen"

2009-07-01T07:49:00.001-07:00

So I did it. I finally did it! Yesterday was my thesis defense and I passed with flying colors. It couldn't have gone better had I planned it myself and that includes the feedback I received from my committee. I can't believe I have really made it to this point. It feels so liberating. I graduate in August.

The pictures show some of the folks who came to see my presentation...

Some good friends who came to support me

Mom Plessman and Kristy

Wendy and I... Wendy defended the day before me and also passed!

My mom and two of my brothers also came to support me

What a great day!

Fun in the kitchen...

2009-06-27T21:34:00.001-07:00

I babysat my nieces and nephews last night so Joe and Julie could go out. I noticed as I was cooking dinner that there were some bananas that were getting to that point of not being very edible anymore... I then noticed there were some nice large zucchini from my brothers garden sitting on the counter as well...

Suffice it to say, we made banana and zucchini muffins. The kitchen smelled so good. The girls were great helpers and Ashton quickly volunteered to be the official camera man. His video dialogue is hilarious!

Ashton was not only the camera man, but the music man. He made sure we were well supplied with good songs.

Abby just enjoyed watching us dance and sing around the kitchen

Haley was pretty proud of the muffins

Annemerie struck a few poses every once in a while

Ashton's dialogue to this video is hilarious!

I love having family so close.

Runners are Wild

2009-06-22T21:20:00.000-07:00

The Alpine A-Team

"Runners are wild. Joggers are runners that have been domesticated."

I love running. My most recent race really goes to show that runners are "wild" as the quote says. To think that this last weekend there were over 7,000 runners that were willing to participate in an event such as the "Wasatch Back" is mind boggling. For those of you unfamiliar with the Wasatch Back, the race goes from Logan to Park City. Each team has 12 runners to complete 188 miles. Each runner runs three times over the duration of the trek, with 1-2 hours of sleep in-between if they are lucky. Sounds like suicide, right? NO! I love it. It is such an exhilarating experience.

This year I ran with a team of colleagues. We were known as the Alpine A-Team. Joe was on my team again and we were in the same van, which was a lot of fun. He made a fun running soundtrack for each car with the A-team theme song and a bunch of other songs about running. Our Captain Barry Graff gave us each a nickname. I was dubbed as "Little Red-Running Hood" and Joe was coined "Dash".

I was runner 9 and ran just under 17 miles total. My second leg of the race began at about 3:30 AM and was 9.6 miles. Nothing like running through the country in the middle of the night with a headlamp on your head to give you a runners high. Here are a few photos...

Joe got really creative with some of his photos. I thought this one was kind of cool.

Running up the Ragnar Hill

This sign says it all. That little runner on the left hand side is me...

Joe getting a road kill on his last leg of the race

My race face just as I'm getting ready to start my first leg

Joe pretending to be running because we missed him coming through the exchange point the first time... Gotta love it!

This is what the sunrise looked like as I was running my second leg... It was breathtaking.

The entire team ran the last 100 yards into the finish line together

We were team 127... This shows our final time; 27 hours, 31 minutes and 49 seconds.

Our team ended up taking 114th over all, with 700 or so teams actually completing the race. Captain Graff has already purchased us a team again next year, so we are going to come back more prepared and even better next year!

2009-06-17T20:53:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite memories from last year was going to see National Treasure, which was the outdoor movie at the Scera. The movie itself was okay, but the night was so memorable because of the people I was with. I went with Kim, Annie and Marianne, three of the most amazing girls I know. We laughed, ate and had an amazing time together. So we decided to head to the first outdoor movie of the season this past week, even though the forecast showed possible rains. Kim was unable to come this year, but our friend Lani joined us instead. We had a fabulous time once again, but it did rain.... we got soaked, but we endured to the end! The rain just added to the adventure and made for an even more exciting memory!

I cut bangs!

2009-06-14T20:26:00.000-07:00

I haven't had bangs since eighth grade, but I have been considering cutting them for months now. Come to find out that my roommate Annie has been considering the same thing! So we went and had them cut the same day. Here's a photo! They aren't drastic, but kind of fun!

Summer Adventure #2... White Water and Jackson Hole

2009-06-11T22:17:00.000-07:00

This face shows how I feel about new adventures!

When summer vacation hit (the school year ended), I decided to take a week to enjoy life. I am defending my thesis in two weeks and I have to completely move back into my classroom and plan my curriculum within the next month, so I figured a week off before jumping into things would be a healthy choice. As previously posted, adventure #1 was Havasupai. After being home only one day from that adventure, we took off for adventure #2... white water rafting the snake river and Jackson hole!!

The weather was 40 degrees and raining, so we had on full wet suits, multiple layers, rain jackets, you name it! It was freezing, but still well worth it.

Some of my favorite girls...

We were a little excited as we got to Jackso...

A little shopping...

Whoever thought of making a square ice cream scoop was brilliant!

What a great trip! Now, nose back to the grindstone...

The long awaited Havasupi

2009-06-07T16:13:00.000-07:00

I have wanted to go to Havasupi Falls for years. However, in order to go, one must make a reservation close to 6 months in advance. This year Annie and I decided to take initiative and make the reservation! We invited six friends to join us in our adventure.

One can be helicoptered in or pay to ride a mule, but we chose to hike. We filled up our packs, made the 12 hour drive to Arizona and hiked the 10 miles into the falls. We spent two wonderful days swimming and hiking and enjoying the beautiful surroundings. We were a part of the first group that were allowed in since the falls have been closed due to a flash flood and swine flu precautions.

The falls themselves were incredibly beautiful as you can see from the photos, but the camping ground area was hit pretty hard by the flood and was pretty barren. It looked like a refugee camp. We filmed a pretty funny video... very funny. Bud Corbin on sight...There was one spring that everyone went to for their water, which is also shown in the video. (You can find the video at the end of all the photos)

We found a more personalized camping spot that was away from the majority of other campers. We spent three days cooking great meals, hiking, sleeping, playing frisbee and speed scrabble, swimming, exploring and the list goes on. It was one of the best adventure trips I have yet to experience and I have been on a lot of adventures in my day. We all enjoyed being together and after four days of constant togetherness, I think everyone was still sad to part their separate ways. We already have a reunion planned and a second adventure together is in the workings...

Here are some of my favorite photos in no apparent order:

This sign made us appear to be extra adventurous

A view at sunrise just as we were descending into the canyon

Posing just down the river from Mooney Falls

Playing in the falls... YMCA anyone?

Just the girls (Annie, Cherise, Jessie and Lani)

The group at Mooney Falls

The Beautiful Havasu Falls

Taking a plunge from off the tree swing...

Cooking ourselves a yummy dinner using our trusty camping stoves

If you look close, you can see a game of frisbee going on...

We couldn't help but take a picture by this sign...

Below is the video on-site at the refugee camp... pay attention to Ian and his "shaky legs". What a trip!

Three job changes in three years...

2009-06-04T10:50:00.001-07:00

In the last 3 years I have made three job changes. In the 2006-07 school year, I taught third grade at Westmore Elementary. In 2007-2008 I was asked by my principal to be TSA, which stands for Teacher on Special Assignment, viewed by the public as assistant principal. Then last year I was approached by John Jesse, who is the Research and Evaluation director for the district and he asked if I would join their team at the District Office. So for the past year (2008-2009), I have worked as a TSA in the research and evaluation department.

In this position, I was over 18 of the elementary schools for their data and assessment needs. I did a lot of trainings and worked closely with a lot of principals and teachers. It has been a fantastic experience and I made so many good close friends. However, my heart is in teaching. I want to be back in the classroom and requested to return for the 2009-2010 school year. So as many of you know, I am going back to Westmore to teach 4th grade and I couldn't be more excited about it.

I will miss many of the aspects of my job now. One thing I will miss more than anything, is going on walks with my friend Barbara. Barbara likes to call me her "mini-me" because we are so much alike, except for the 25 or so year age difference of course. Barbara and I often met during our lunch break and would walk together through the cemetery across the street. It was a cherished time. I will miss the many friends I made and worked with, but I am onto a new adventure!

Barbara on one of our walks through the cemetery...

This is Carol, the secretary for our department...

Dixie (another secretary) Dave (my partner in crime) and April (TSA in math dept.)

A few more of my favorite colleagues...

Sometimes change is hard, but change is good. It keeps you on top of your game. I can't wait to get settled back into the classroom!