$11.96

...that's how much my abundant amount of veggies came to when Kari and Rika took me to the Farmer's market for the first time. What a steal of a deal! I loaded up on tomatoes, avacadoes, onions, apples, oranges, a pepper, cucumber, lettuce, and yams - and I was suprised and stoked with my bargain.

Missions Fest has come and gone again for another year. But it was good to reconnect with a few youth group buddies, Capernwray faces, and of course - my dear friend Jayme:) I only went to a few sessions and scouted out a couple of booths. I think next year when I get closer to graduation it will be interesting to see if the Lord opens up any doors to some distant land, or perhaps right up in my own backyard.

We had a hallway Pizza party a few weekends ago. We have 14 people who live on our floor, so it was our first event where we all got together to hang out and eat amazing homemade pizza.

I have just arrived back from our first rowing practice of the semester back on the water. Despite it being super chilly out there, the water was smooth and calm, and it was a nice workout. I am still baffled that I remain on this team after 3 years...go figure.

These photos are from our Westerns Competition back in October...our womens 8

Photo my Garreth JonesPhoto my Garreth Jones
And last weekend we had the death Erg Competition. This year I didn't compete, but I got to help yell at my teammates to make them work hard, and they all did amazingly:)
These photos are of some of the team after the competition...

And this photo is at Subway (eat fresh), with Mary, one of our Novice Girls, and our phenomenal coach Erin, in the middle.

School has been going well. I'm enjoying my classes more, but finding it tough to get everything done. My discipleship stuff has been going great as well. We've been in the midst of interviewing for next years team, so we'll see how that goes.

I've started a mini practicum in a Grade 2 class as well, and that's been fun. Nice to actually be in a classroom and hang out with kiddies for a bit. It always take a while to get into the groove of a new teacher's style, but I think it should be a good semester.

I've been enjoying reading through a book called Completely His, by Shannon Eldridge. She focuses on the importance of spending time with God in order that we may have a deeper realtionship with Him. And lately it's been wonderful to experience the Lord's presence and having my desire to seek Him grow. I've also been reading through Hosea as well, and it is mindblowing stuff that God describes how He seeks and pursues us, despite our fallen nature and sinfulness. Hope and restoration are wonderful gifts.

And in the spirit of festivites -
Happy Valentine's Day (early).
Hurray for family and friends.
I've got a date with Kari and Rika for Saturday night, so girls night will be a blast:)

Blessings on the rest of your week, and thanks for checking in.

Jen J

"I'm back..."

So here are a few updates for you friends.
Christmas is underneath this post:)

The holidays were wonderful, and now I've returned to the land of early mornings and late nights, textbooks, papers and summaries, endless cups of tea, and to my surprise - a foggy and frosty land.

It was great to catch up with my roomies, who I missed quite a bit of the holidays. They are fantastic! So we hit up a Thai food restaurant for a roomie date, and we ended up having the whole restaurant to ourselves!

First weekend back we had a Discipleship retreat in White Rock. It was nice and laid back, and was the usual cold and rainy January weather - so we tried to stay as dry as possible. But it was nice to reconnect with the group of people we started the year with, and to refocus our aims for the semester ahead and to let the Lord refresh.

Rika, Kari and I hit up a basketball game that was one of the most intense games I've yet to see. It was pretty shocking - and we won.

Some of the boys had the brilliantly odd idea of making 40 litres of jello. And it worked.

And I had a ridiculously sore sore throat of death for a weekend, so the jello worked its charms down my painful throat.

Those who are familiar with 'Tim Tam Slammin', may also be familiar with their cousin - the Penguins. These cute little cookies are just as wonderful and delish. So the three of us dived into a cup of tea and some penguin chocolatey goodness to kickstart the beginning of the semester.

Following it's 3rd year of tradition - our quad took off to the opera Carmen. It was a tad scandalous, but entertaining and a fun night in the city.

So as you can see, things are going pretty well so far. Nothing to out of this world.

But your prayers for diligence would be wonderful, and that I'm diligent in spending time with the Lord as well. Thanks for reading!

Joy - wanna email me and ask me to read your blog so I can see what's new? ;)

CHRISTMAS MEMORIES...

Christmas time was absolutely wonderful. Our grampa made it out to visit, and we loved having him out. Lots of food, lots of tea, lots of conversations and laughs made the holidays wonderful.

After getting home, Dad and I went on our traditional Christmas tree hunt. This year, we were a tad late on our pick - but it was our fastest hunting experience thus far - and our tree was amazing.

Enjoyed getting together with some stellar friends.

Had the annual killer game night with the ladies!

Finally caught up with some long-time highschool pals:)

And ice skating with friends:)
Christmas Eve caroling...

New Year's Eve totem pole

So that's a overview of the holidays in a snap of the fingers. It was so wonderful to be home, always a little sad leaving and going back to TWU to homework and studying. But it was fantastic to have a break and let the brain chill.