To Grampa, Joy and Keltie...

...and all the other faithful friends who check this blog.  My continued apologies for my lack of updates.  Thank goodness for a New Year that allows us to set resolutions - thus, I resolve to do a better job at keeping this blog updated.

Ohh...'Blog.com' tells me this in my 80th post!  Celebration is in order.  'Woot!' (That's for you Joy.)

So - in order to get you caught up on life, here's a bunch of photos to make the update more interesting.  (If you are on my facebook, none of this will be new to you.)

With my stellar roomies (Hannah, Kari and Rika) on the ferry coming back from a Leadership Retreat at the end of September.

One happy moment...I have always dreamed of trying out a firehose.  And we stumbled upon a fire safety children's day - and dreams came true.

With the firemen.

Enjoying some lovely strawberries on Roomie Night, a well-needed study break.

For Thanksgiving, I went out to Alberta to visit with some very special friends of mine from Bible school.

...and to meet my 'niece' Adalie!!

She is absolutely lovely.

Halloween was pretty exciting, and Han and I dressed up as presents,
and Kari and Rika were Grandmas.

We always wanted a dog.  And we found Charlie on the road one Sunday after church.  Thus, we became good friends with him one afternoon, until we found his home and drove him back.

We love Christmas!  Enjoying our first Christmas Starbucks Drinks.

Decorating our apartment for Christmas:)

American Thanksgiving Meal of McDonald's Burgers at 2:30am for a study break.
University is not a healthy place to be.

Mike and Darrick Fast dropped in at Trinity on their way out to the island.  
It was a great quick visit.

And yes, some where amidst all this fun - homework was done.  This is my first stack of books that were needed for all the papers and exams.

I was pretty drained and...well - a "picture speaks a thousand words".  
I'll let the photo do the talking.

Finally after exams were over, Kari and I joined my friend, the Macaulays, for their boys' Christmas Concert.  We got to sit with Kade, the youngest.

And finally heading home on the ferry, and joyfully happy to see some snow!!

The semester somehow flew by, but it was pretty draining.  I've learned that I still procrastinate, and still have lots to learn about discipline and getting things done at a quicker pace.  I am so thankful for my spectacular roommates who make the apartment 'home' and a place that I can relax and have a blast with.  We definitely get up to some good fun, and a bit of mischief.  It's good for us.

Spiritually, it's been a time of growth and challenges.  With the immense amount of textbooks and novels to read, I've slacked on the Bible reading sadly.  Prayers for diligence and a desire in that area  would be most appreciated.  The Lord is still so gracious and faithful to me, and I experience His goodness in numerous ways, but I hope to also be a faithful follower and seeker of Him and His truth.

Thank you friends and family for checking in.  I plan to do a Christmas update soon...I chose not to overload you with too much info for one read.  Until then...

Thinking back and looking ahead...

I'm sitting here on our comfy couch at Trinity, in our new little apartment. The month of August zooooomed by, and I find myself already looking into a brand new school year, full of many text books, essays to be written, and mixed with laughs and adventures. I anticipate my third year to be quite exciting, despite the fact that my heart is taking a little while to settle in and embrace my new 'home'.

August consisted of finishing up work, heading to Germany for my brother Jeff's wedding, in which we gained a new lovely sibling - Antonia. I returned home a week earlier for school, then dashed home to pack my stuff, and thus getting into the swing of things.

So here are a ton of photos to catch you up...

Part of our family in Salzburg, Austria.

Jeff and Antonia after the ceremony.

Jacobson Siblings

Friends at the wedding reception

Back at Trinity with friends (Janelley visting back from the Philippines.

Jayme surprised me at Trinity for a last visit before we both started school:)
Success! Rika and I with our first cooked meals in the apartment

Cheryl, Rachel, Kari, Kris, me and Rika and the first Bomber's Hockey game of the year!


Our Apartment!Rika cooking up a storm in our kitchen
Kari 'studying' in our living room
Looking at the other side of the living room
Our bathroom
Kari and Rika's room
Hannah's and my bedroom

Alright folks, there's the latest update in the life of Jen. I've also added the video tour of our apartment, mainly for my folks because I couldn't get it to send via email, so there it is.

Stay tuned for further news of the future...

WHOA! - I'm back!


Well, to the few of you who still read this (and who may perhaps stumble back upon this page despite my long absence), my apologies for not keeping up to date. Thanks for not giving up all hope in me!

Somehow school became busy, and - those of you who know about 'facebook' - it became the new hip happenin' thing, and thus blogging somehow seeped into the back of mind for a while.

Myself crazy at the end of school...


However...I have returned to give an update.

Now let me see...*sigh*...what is new?

I've finished my second year at University, and it was one brutal fight to the end. My studying pal Rika and I described it as running in a race: you finally see the finish line coming closer - and just as you think you're almost done and holding back from throwing up - you're told you still have another lap to go. By the time we finished all our papers, we got knocked over by the quickly aproaching finals. I'm hoping to procrastinate less next year in hopes of that better survival tactic. I can laugh about it now, but my head sure was spinning at the end of April.
My stack of books for my papers...

Immediately after finishing exams, I packed up my belongings, and hopped onto a plane to lovely Alberta. I had a fantastic holiday week visiting with my amazing Grampa, great family and awesome friends. Visiting the McTeers (family) and some Capernwray pals


I arrived back home on my beloved Vancouver Island to the welcoming embraces of my folks. I enjoyed some good relaxing and 'babying' by my parents. I've also been blessed to be back at work for my 3rd summer with ACTS (Africa Community Technical Service: http://www.acts.ca/). It's an amazing organization which works in Africa, helping to provide clean water and other community development projects. I work in the office, doing this or that, and some things in between.

So, summer has consisted of work, sunshine, lounging at the beach, getting back into reading (not textbooks!), volleyball with friends, firesides at camp, and lots of happy moments.

In a few weeks, our family is taking off to Germany for my brother Jeff's wedding (to his fair maiden Antonia). It's hard to believe I will be in Germany soon, let alone that one of us siblings is getting married. But overall, I'm pretty stoked.

One huge highlight!! Jeff flew home for a week in April, so the three of us siblings were able to reconnect for a few hours at Trinity before he went home to the island.

Phew...that's a decent recap on half a year of my life.

Most important through it all though, is the faithfulness of the Lord in my life. In each step along this journey, the Lord has never disappointed me. Through the intensity of exams, stressful moments, hardships in relationships, and transitions - to the peaceful moments, endless laughs, and friendly memories - He has walked beside me and continues to reveal His character. I am thankful to be serving and to be in love with a God who knows me inside and out.

I suppose most recently, I've been learning to just trust in Him. Life sometimes takes different turns we do not always expect, and I realize that His plan IS better than mine...

Thanks for reading to all of you who have:)

Blessings and Peace with you,
Jen J

I'm Back!
Hello friends and family who might still read this blog.
I haven't done the best job at staying on top of this blogging, but here is another round of photos from the last month-ish.

It was AWESOME to be home over Christmas and to spend time at home with the family, and to catch up with friends. I (as well as our whole family), really missed having Jeff home this year since he was out in Germany for the holidays. But it was still great to forget about school and to enjoy the people back home again.

After arriving back at school, we've jumped back into training for rowing. Since the weather is pretty cold still this time of year, we can't be in the water yet, so we do indoor rowing on the rowing machines - also called 'ergs'. Last weekend we went to an indoor competition, and we're heading to another one next weekend.

Here's most of our team at the competition:)

This is Krista and me, reinacting how we felt after our races.
We've also been up to some good fun with some of the dorm gals as well. One night we went out to the woods and built a tire swing. Study Breaks are a necessity in this world of homework. It usually consists of hanging out with friends, eating some sort of food, and hopefully getting a few laughs in.
One Sunday evening, Hannah, Kari, Rika and I grabbed a few dingy's and went for a paddle around the school pond.
The most recent events was the regathering of our friendly gang. Between homework and living in different spots this year, we haven't all be able to hang out as much as the old days. So this past Friday, Hannah, Bryan, Kris, Billy and I took off on an adventure.
We stopped first at the beach, which for me was most excellent. A few breaths of ocean air did the heart good. It's always been a place for me to collect a few thoughts and just appreciate the Lord's creation which is dear to my heart.

Han and Me:)
We then took off up to Whistler and found a frozen lake and ice skated. It was such a blast. Definitely felt like I had a bit of a holiday.
Skating

Missions Fest was also this weekend, so we headed into Vancouver. Again, I felt so blessed to run into my old youth groups from the island, Capernwray staff, and other friendly faces.

Bruce Olson (also known as 'Bruchko', his first book), spoke at Missions Fest this year, and it was incredible to hear his stories and the amazing things the Lord has done in his life. Since we had to read his book while we were at bible school, Danny (a friendly Capernwrayer) and I, were pretty stoked to hear and meet this man face to face.
So for the most part, I've been keeping busy, and thankfully have fun moments of relief within the schoolwork. I'm constantly learning how to juggle everything and to make a healthy balance. But I have a desire to become a bit more of a brainiac, so hopefully next time I'll have some great and interesting school facts for you all.

Thanks for reading once again, until next time:)