Boredom...

I am bored. And I am broke. That is a bad combination. I did however have a pretty eventful and fun weekend.

On Friday night we had a "party" at our house. It started out a little on the lame side, but eventually turned out pretty fun. At the outset of our party only 4 people had shown up (and not exactly fun people at that). I got kind of discouraged because about an hour before the party started we received calls or texts from several people saying they could no longer come. I kept thinking about how lame we were...but then, my dear friend T.J. walked in my kitchen. Now, I had been trying to get ahold of him for several days to see if he could come, and he was not returning any messages...so when he walked in the kitchen, I was literally shocked to see him...and then, Emily walked in a few minutes later! We officially had a party, plus my other Emily came too! It turned out to be pretty fun and there was a good group of people there, so we had a successful party afterall.

Saturday was Courtney and Brian's wedding. They had a beautiful outdoor wedding, which did get rained on a few times through the evening, but it was beautiful nonetheless. I loved how simple and pretty everything was, and it was so much fun to just hang out and dance with all my friends for 5 hours! I only had one momentary freak out about being one of very few singles there, but that was a short-lived freak out and I was able to still enjoy myself throughout the night. I'm so happy for Courtney and Brian. They were obviously very in love and it was a beautiful night for them!

Sunday night we decided to walk over to our fave bar in Longmont, the Red Zone, since we didn't have to work Monday. We walked over and enjoyed a few drinks and company. I did become incredibly irritated with a gentleman who joined us for drinks who just happens to be an incredibly huge tool and douche bag, but that didn't ruin the night. In fact, when we moved our group outside to sit at the bar, we got to talk to our favorite bartender, Brent (he is kind of great...). He is just really cool and I may or may not have a ginormous crush on him...he talked to us for a while and then told us our drinks were on him since he never gets to buy us drinks! I was pretty excited about that (simple pleasures for me, folks...).

Monday I slept in and had lunch with Shmembo and bought Copeland's latest album. So far, so good. Then I watched the Nuggets annihilate Kobe and the Lakers.

That was my weekend. You got way more information than you ever wanted, but there it is. I just thought I'd give a little update for anyone who was interested.

Love,
Yenn

8 Things (so you can stop harassing me through your blog, Kristy...)

Here is a blog dedicated to my dear friend Kristy. It is titled:
8 Things:

8 Things I Did Yesterday:
1. Slept in until noon. I was up way too late Saturday night.
2. Watched the Lakers kill the Rockets...boo. I hate the Lakers. I hate Kobe Bryant. Now the Nuggets have to play them and their smug faces...
3. Went to dinner at Chili's. That is 2 days in a row...I'm in a rut.
4. "Helped" our new roommate move some of his things in.
5. Watched Iron Chef America.
6. I lead a very sad life apparently...I can't think of 2 more things I did...
7. Sat on the couch being lazy because it was Sunday and I was sad that the next day was monday...
8. Drank wine to commence the era of Mary and Jenn.



8 Things I am Looking Forward To:
1. Our party on Friday...It's finally summer and we are celebrating!
2. Courtney and Brian's wedding on Saturday. It will be interesting if nothing else...
3. Watching The Hills tonight...I love it. I'm not ashamed.
4. The first game of the Nuggets-Lakers series Tuesday night...I'm looking forward to it, but I'm so nervous!
5. Broncos Fanfair! I'm excited for it, even though I probably won't meet any players I actually know since I'm pretty sure McD got rid of 78% of the players from last year...
6. Going to a Rockies game with the college girls! It's a reunion of sorts!
7. Having a "secret" rendezvous with a friend...
8. Doing the Autism Walk on May 30th!



8 TV Shows I Watch:
1. The Hills...obviously.
2. LOST!!!!! Even though I have to wait another 7 months to watch it again!
3. So You Think You Can Dance...it starts soooo soon!
4. The Office
5. Gilmore Girls...I want my own Jess-Luke combo.
6. Grey's Anatomy...I freaking bawl my eyes out every week!
7. House...I love it, even if he is a rip-off of Dr. Cox.
8. American Idol! Finale this week!



8 Favorite Bands:
1. The Format...I don't care if they aren't together anymore...they still hold my heart.
2. Muse
3. Copeland
4. Mute Math
5. FUN
6. Foo Fighters
7. The Heyday
8. Eisley

Okay, there it is. Several lists for your reading pleasure...Enjoy.
Love,
Jenn

Random thoughts...

All right...I figured it had been way too long since I had updated anything. Now, don't hope for much. I don't have much new to say.

First, let me let you into my life a little. I had a bit of a breakdown the other night. My singleness was brought front and center in my life. I usually do okay when it comes to the fact that I'm single. I have a full life and I enjoy what I do, but I would be lying if I said that I didn't wish every once in a while that I was in a relationship. Like I said, it is not all the time, but I do wish that I could find someone to spend my time with. I think what happened this weekend was that everywhere I went, everyone was either married or had a child, or both. Now, let me just preface this by saying that I am not ready for a child, but that is definitely part of what happened this weekend. I think I let pressure build up as the days went on, and eventually I just kind of exploded. I allowed what society says about age and singleness come in and make me doubt myself and doubt my worth. I hate that it happened. I tend to think I'm a pretty cool gal, and I think I have a lot to offer in a relationship. However, when that big number "27" crept into my mind, I started to wonder if something was wrong with me since I wasn't in a relationship already. I'm past the average age a woman gets married...that freaked me out. I just started to wonder what it was about me that kept me out of relationships. Then crept in the doubt and the worry, and voila, I had a breakdown. I hate that I let things like an age get to me, but I did. I really think I need to start focusing on making myself the best I can be, and when the time comes for a relationship, I will know exactly what I want out of it, and exactly how much I have to offer...Okay, that is all with the self-help talk...

The second thing that has been on my mind (this won't exactly come as a shocker to anyone) is the Broncos. I have been thinking a lot about them- and I'm sure some of you think that is quite stupid- and I've been trying to have a much better attitude. I love the Broncos. This much has always been true, but I think my attitude and outlook on the season became somewhat jaded and clouded by all the 12 year-old girl drama surrounding our former Pro-bowl Quarterback. I still think Cutler is a very good quarterback, and I'm sure he will do great in Chicago, but I definitely lost some respect for him throughout the whole ordeal. Coming off the trade, though, I was feeling pretty discouraged for my favorite team. It looked like all hope was dwindling. The coaching staff seemed discouraged, and the team members seemed a little lost and confused. That all describes how I felt at one point or another as well. Don't get me wrong...I don't live or die the Broncos, but I do love them, and I do follow them and am invested in their success. When everything went down, I was sad. It looked like maybe our team was going to really struggle. However, the past few weeks I have become much more optimistic. I've been reading about Orton and Simms and how they've been doing, and they have such great, positive, team-oriented attitudes. I think that Kyle Orton did poorly in Chicago because Lovie Smith is a defense-oriented coach, and he had a very poor supporting cast in receivers. I'm hoping that a new team, new game plan, and a second chance will prove that he deserves the starting job. I believe he will be the starter, though Simms is definitely a formidable opponent, and I'm glad we will have him as backup. I'm still waiting to see what happens in the draft, and what McD will do as coach, but I look forward to the season with hopeful anticipation.
Okay, that is all for the Broncos talk. Sorry if I bored any of you.


The last thing I think I'll talk about is a boy...I know, I already talked about this...but this is a positive thing, I think...
I have been on Match.com on and off for a year now. I have met a couple of people, and dated one guy. It didn't work out with that one, but I hope that I can meet someone. I'm not ashamed of being on match, and I know that it has worked for a lot of people. This past weekend, I started emailing with this boy named Taylor. So far, I have been the most excited to email with this boy. He seems so easy going, fun, and he likes football...there is one drawback in the team he roots for, but I can look past that if everything else about him seems great. We have just started emailing, so I'm trying not to get too excited or get my hopes up too high, but I really think that he seems like a great guy and I'm excited to get to know him more. He even commented on his faith in his first email to me. I was really impressed by that and hope that it is something that we have in common. Anyway, after my very depressing first part of this blog about being single and trying to be okay with it, I thought I would end by saying that though I am still single, and still trying to be okay with it, I am not losing hope.

For all my single compadres out there: I hope none of us loses hope, and that we continue to support one another while we try not to.

Love,
Yenn

Artsy Day in the City!

Saturday, I went to the Denver Art Museum with Kristy. I had never been to the Denver Art Museum, so it was a real treat for me. I felt like I was trying something new and expanding my horizons. I think that sometimes I need to do that. I will be the first to admit that I really know nothing about art, but I really do enjoy it and trying to learn something new about it. Saturday was no exception. The Museum was hosting a temporary exhibit called, The Psychedelic Experience. It was an exhibit that displayed music posters and other pieces of art from the '60s. It was actually quite interesting. We started to realize why there was so much drug use in the '60s, though we still aren't sure if the drug use was because everything was so "trippy" or if everything was "trippy" because of the drug use...a mystery. We got to listen to some great old albums from the '60s and look at some really great poster art for different music venues and albums.

We also explored the rest of the art museum, and found some very interesting art...like I said before, I really don't have any knowledge in art, but we did find some pieces that we really enjoyed. There were also some parts of the exhibits that were just plain frightening...for example, there was a video piece, that had a bald man in 3 frames saying, in a woman's voice, "40 lashes for her crimes." It was quite disturbing. There was another video art piece, that was on a large screen. It was the same man from the other, but he had hair, and he was being held by an old man, who kept repeating something in a woman's voice (I can't remember, I think I blocked it out). There was also a little boy who kept repeating, "There was no cure. There is no cure." Very interesting...to say the least. There were several pieces that were just very inspiring and made me want to explore my creative, artistic side more often. I will post a few pictures in here, so you can see a sampling of what we experienced. Overall, the day was great.

I'm stealing these pictures from Kristy's facebook...this is what happens when you twirl your camera and throw it across the room and it breaks...you have to steal other people's pictures...

TO-DO

I made a To-DO list today. I put it in bold in size 48 font. I wonder if that will help me get caught up and stay on task. I guess only time will tell. I'm pretty much up for trying anything...I wonder if hypnosis would work. I am really bad at working in a timely manner. I have always worked best when I have no choice but to do the work because it is due. I have never started a paper early, or studied for a test if I knew I had any amount of extended time to do it. Some people at least start a project a little early, even if it isn't right when it is assigned. I have never been that person. I have always been the person to get a syllabus at the beginning of a semester, or get a job assignment a month before it is due, and wait until the night before, or the morning of to start it! What is wrong with me?! I don't even know how to break this habit. The problem with doing it now while I'm working is that I will have several things that will come due, and I won't be able to get everything done because I have saved it all to be done at the same time. The problem this presents is that I have specific guidelines and state regulations that dictate when things need to be turned in. My procrastination problem could cause major problems...and yet, here I am, writing a blog instead of doing the work that I need to do. Does anyone have a solution to this? I don't know how to force myself to do things ahead of time...It just doesn't seem to be in my nature.

Creativity...

So, I'm going to try my hand at clothing designing...yes, that's right. I need a sparkly shirt to wear tomorrow night. I'm sure you're all wondering why I don't have a sparkly shirt to wear...I'm wondering the same thing. I feel like I should have a whole closet of sparkly shirts, seeing as how I'm obsessed with all things sparkly...Unfortunately, though, I think I threw out all the sparkly shirts I had and replaced them with green sweaters...

What I'm going to do is buy a shirt, fabric glue, and powdery glitter. I'm going to make random designs on the shirt with the fabric glue, and then i'm going to shake the glitter over the glue...I don't actually know if this will work, but I figured it was worth a shot. I like trying creative things, because I am such a concrete thinker. Sometimes my creative endeavors work out great, and sometimes they turn out like pictures of a football play...

I have also been toying with the idea of making some jewelry. My mom gave me some jewelry-making stuff for Christmas, and I really do want to make some jewelry, but I literally have no idea how to even start. Maybe I just have to jump in and do it and hope that it comes out brilliant.

On another note, Mary and I tried 2 Bible Studies this week. The first was a group that meets in Louisville. It is singles and has ages ranging from 22-38ish I would guess...for the most part it was people our age. It was actually pretty good, but I didn't like that they split the group into 2 groups for the actual discussion. I got put in the group that was really quiet and didn't talk much, and Mary got put in the group of really intelligent guys who debated philosophically the whole time...so jealous. Anyway, the group of people seemed to actually be pretty cool, and we will probably end up going back to that one.

Let me tell you about the second study we tried. It was titled, Bible 101. I was worried that it might be a study linked to the class through the church, but I didn't know and it didn't say, so I thought it was worth it to give it a shot. It was in Longmont and all, we had to try. So we got lost trying to find it, because it was a condo in a condo park. We eventually found it, albeit 10 minutes late. We knocked on the door, and a man opened it and just kind of looked at us. There was a woman in the kitchen too, so we got worried that we came on the wrong night or something. Mary asked if there was a Bible Study, and the man awkwardly answered yes. We ended up standing in the entrance-way, never being offered a seat, and standing there making incredibly difficult, awkward small talk for 15 minutes as we waited for other apparently imaginary Bible study members. Finally we started, and we opened to Ephesians 3, which we had not read yet, being as it was our first night...they didn't have any questions or anything, so the "leader" read the passage out loud...worst reader EVER! I had to re-read it myself over and over because I couldn't follow at all when he read it. We were just supposed to talk about it...no direction whatsoever. Mary basically took the lead because I'm quiet, and the other 2 literally just sat there silently, so we sat there for 30 minutes tops having really awkward discussion. Finally it was time to go, and Mary and I scooted our way out of there as soon as we possibly could...needless to say, we are not going back there again.

We are hopeful that the Tuesday night study will work out, just a little sad it is not in Longmont...oh well, we will deal.

Well, I guess that is all for now. Wish me luck with my creative endeavors!

Love,
Jenn

V8 Soup...eww...

Dear Blog Followers,
I know there are not many of you, and I really don't blame any of you if you decide not to follow my blog after this post. The thing is, I'm quite uninteresting these days.

Let me tell you about something disgusting I just saw on television. It is called a V8 soup commercial. It is completely disgusting-looking. V8 drink is sick all by itself...make it into a soup...? Vomitous.

Also, when one is talking trash about Jack McCoy (the DA from Law and Order), shouldn't the friends facing him tell said person that he has walked up behind him, and therefore he should stop talking trash about him...? I realize that was quite confusing, but really, shouldn't they have said, "shhh, dude, he's right behind you?"

I had an MRI on Monday. It turns out that I don't exactly love having MRIs done, and in fact I kind of become quite panicky for all parts of the process. For instance, did you know that they inject contrast into the area being looked at? They do! I did not know this when I arrived for my appointment. I was signing the releases when the receptionist said, "You know they do injections in the injured area, right?" I nodded yes, but of course was screaming, "NOOOO", and then I became panic-stricken. When it came time to go back, I became extremely anxious. I even started tearing/misting up when the tech came in and started explaining the process to me. The "Injector Specialist" (what I'm choosing to call him; he was very official-looking, and only there to administer injections...) came in, and said, "Are you scared?" Yeah, apparently my face read panic all over it. The tech then asked if I needed a hand to hold...yes, that's right, a 27 year-old woman needed a stranger's hand to hold for a simple injection. It turns out that the injection to numb me wasn't so bad, but when they inject the contrast, it fills up the area with fluid and so my wrist started feeling about 10 pounds heavier...such a weird and yucky feeling.
Next, it was my turn to go squeeze into an MRI machine. It doesn't look anything like what is on TV. It is not a tube, it is a flat surface to lay on, and a flat surface that you slide into...it is only about 2.5 inches from my face. Now, I'm not usually terrified of small spaces, but when they slide you into this machine, and put earphones on you so the noises don't deafen you, I become quite anxious. The tech told me I wouldn't get to move for 35-40 minutes. It was the longest 35 minutes of my life. I think I was having mini anxiety attacks the whole time I was in there, specifically every time the noises started...stimulus overload...
Anyway, that is a very long, uninteresting story about my MRI experience. If you never have to have one done, count yourself lucky...p.s. My wrist is still sore from the injection...boo...
At least I have my follow-up appointment tomorrow and I will finally know if there is actually anything wrong with my wrist...

I am so happy tomorrow is my Friday...it is a very busy day for me, but thank God it will go by pretty quickly.

This is my last weekend of being on-call!!! Yay!!! I can't even wait. It's been a short month, but it feels like it's dragged on forever.......

I wish I wasn't associated with "Christians" who are seen as very hateful, and I wish Jesus was represented better. The end.

Love,
Jenn