I think I'm gonna take that drive

Well, it hasn't been a long time since I posted! I am pretty excited about that! :)

Fourth of July was pretty good.  I went up to Lewiston with my friend, Randi.  I also got to see my Grandma Pat and Grandpa Johnny in Logan!  That was a lot of fun!  They never fail to make me laugh!  

This is my grandparents and me!  :) I'm hoping to make it up to Logan one more time before they leave!

After dinner with my grandparents, Randi and I went shopping for a bit, and then headed to her grandma's house in Lewiston!  

The Fourth of July was great!  I think I may have decided it's one of my favorite holidays.  I really enjoy the festivities, and I love that one day out of the year, almost EVERYONE is patriotic.  I wish is was more like that all year round! The day started off with a breakfast the the fire fighters put on.  It was really neat because as we were sitting at breakfast, I looked up and realized that Bishop Westover was there.  Turns out, their family has been going to Lewiston for the Fourth for years!  It was awesome to see them, but it did make me miss home a bit!  

After breakfast, it was time for the parade!  I LOVE parades on the Fourth of July!  My first experience with an Independence Day parade was last year when I was with the Robles in Flagstaff, and I fell in love!  I think they can be so enjoyable! :) 

This is Randi and me waiting for the parade to start.  We have several other silly pictures, but I will spare you this time!  :)

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I do have to say that there were more beauty pageant floats in this parade than I have ever seen in my life.  I think each little town surrounding Logan had about five beauty pageants, and every single one was represented in the Lewiston Independence Day parade!  

After the parade, we headed to the park where there were lots of booths to shop at, and a concert.  Randi sang at the park later that afternoon, and then we headed home so that I could be back at work on Thursday morning.  

The night of the Fourth, I had to myself, which was much needed!  I watched some TV and watched three different firework shows from my front porch.  It was pretty awesome.  

The days following the Fourth have been a little tricky, but have strengthened my faith quite a bit.  I found out Thursday morning that a good friend had a child pass away, and it's made me reflect quite a bit on the trials we face in this life.  Some times, it doesn't seem fair or right, but I know that trials are handed to us for a reason.  My prayers are continually with her family, and I have seen their strength, and I know this will be hard, but something that they will be strengthened by.   

It has been a reflective week in a lot of other ways as well, and I have had the opportunity to set goals and think about a variety of weaknesses that I want to work on to make strengths.  I am trying to take these goals a step at a time because some times, I get really too excited and I want to be perfect all at once, and then I get discouraged when I can't do that!  

I hope life is good for all of you!  I get to come home in just a little while!  I am excited for a visit!!  

Loves and hugs,

Jenny :)

Putting the big girl pants on!

Hello friends!  I hope this post finds you doing well, and as chipper as ever!!

FIRST THINGS FIRST!  I got a JOB as a FIFTH GRADE TEACHER!!  That's right, I am stepping into those big girl pants come this fall!!  I am so excited to have the opportunity to teach.  I can't say that I'm not nervous, but I am mostly excited!  I think a little nerves will keep me on my toes! :)

This summer has been filled with a lot of WORK!  I have been working three jobs, but loving every minute of being busy!  I had missed it!  I am working at Sylvan, as I have said in previous posts.  I LOVE my job there.  It is AMAZING.  I am going to do my best to keep it a few nights a week during the school year just so that I don't have to leave!  The kids there are great, the teaching is great, everything about it is great!  I was telling a friend just today actually that time always FLIES BY there because I LOVE my job!!  :)
I have also been working at Opinionology.  This job, on the other hand, is not one that I am loving all that much, but I got a job there last April just to cover the summer, and when I got the job at Sylvan, I just decided to stay with both for as long as I could.  A little extra money never hurt anyone, right!?  Haha.  I am also still tutoring the little boy in the Jensens' ward.  I LOVE doing that!! :)

Other than work, I have been playing with friends here and there, going to FHE, looking for places to live and institute and finding a little more time for myself.

Last weekend I went to Andy's birthday party which was fun.  We went up to Salt Lake and did some go carting, ate some lunch and then went to the Dinosaur museum in Lehi.  Then, of course there was cake by Suzy (she is a great baker in my ward, and one AWESOME girl too!).

That night was then followed by a Glendale girls' night!  It was so good to chat and spend time with those girls!  I had missed them!  :)

The most recent project in my control was the ward summer activity!  We were going to go camping, but due to the unfortunate fires happening all over the state of Utah, the camp ground closed.  We moved the activity to a park in Spanish Fork, and it was still a success.  We had dinner and some activities, and then we went to our Bishop's house for ice cream and an out door movie!  It was quite enjoyable!

At the ward activity, we got a slack line. . . I was not very good at it, but the idea was fun!  Haha.  There are two girls in my ward though that were awesome at it!

Volleyball was indeed the main attraction of the evening!  I think Sister Stevens, the bishop's wife had the most fun with it! :)

We also played Bocce Ball.  I had never heard of it before, but I took a wack at it! :) I kept getting distracted and dancing though.  Typical. . .

The above pictures are of my friends Kyle and Robyn.  These two are so awesome!  They are two of the nicest people that I have ever met!!

 A table of friends is always good thing!  I think lots of people had a great time socializing! :)

 This was one of my FAVORITE parts of the activity- GIANT twister!!  :) SOOOOOOO MUCH FUN!

This was the BEST SET UP EVER!!  I want to do this again some day with an out door movie.  I really enjoyed it!

Even though we didn't get to do our original plan, I think everyone that came had some fun, and I am happy things worked out! :)

Another great activity I got to go to was the Manti Pageant! :) I had seen it once before, but I was excited to be able to go again! :) YAY!!

Well, that brings me to the here and now where I realize that it's after 2am and I should probably go to bed! I will write again soon, probably after the Fourth of July because I am going up to Logan which should be a lot of fun!  Hopefully, I will get a chance to see my grandparents again!  They are living up in Logan again this summer, and we were able to meet for lunch in Salt Lake just a few weeks ago.  It'd be fun to see them again!  Well, I hope you're all doing well!!  :)

Loves and hugs,

Jenny :)