Hallo!
Meine Gute, Ich bin SO BEGEISTERT fur Deutschland! (I'm so excited for Germany!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
First off, I want to thank everyone for the letters, packages, postcards and dear elders. I'm convinced that I have the best family in the world. I love you all, and I pray for you all!
This will be my last email until I get to the mission field. I only have 4 days left! Today is p-day, tomorrow is Christmas eve, so the schedule will be a little different so our teachers can spend time with their families, Saturday is Christmas (Merry Christmas everyone!) and they keep us pretty busy that day, then we have church/interviews on Sunday, and then I leave at 5:00 am Monday morning! The people going to Berlin don't leave until Tuesday. I'm really sad to leave my district. I love them so much, and half of them aren't even going to the same mission as me! We have epic plans for MTC reunions though. In two years, hahah.
So some cool stuff has happened this week. The highlight was going to the MTC talent show try-outs. Yes, we are having an MTC talent show. The real deal will happen on Christmas day, and it should be really good. But the auditions.... well... hahahah let's just say it was like American Idol, but mormon style. Meaning that there were lots of really talented people, but also people singing renditions of the 12 days of Christmas replaced with MTC lyrics. ("FIIIIIIVE CTR RIIIIIIINNGGSS!!!!!!!") It was hilarious hahaha. Plus we had to wait for 2 hours before my companion got to try out so we saw a lot of acts.
What else, oh, it snowed here like crazy. It snowed non-stop for a day and a half. A lot of it has gotten washed away by rain, now, but a bunch of missionaries that were supposed to leave this past Monday got delayed and had to stay at the MTC until yesterday. Apparently snow is hitting Germany pretty hard, too, and the Frankfurt airport was closed for a while. So the fields really will be white!
Oh, and thank you so much for the package, mom! I loved your daily planner with all the inspiration stuff written in it :). I have a funny story about the Nutella, though. So Sister Cannon and I have been joking about Nutella ever since we got here. We both LOVE Nutella. It's our guilty pleasure of choice. We were talking about how we love Nutella on everything, and by the end, I think Sister Cannon was dreaming about Nutella. She kept saying, 'Ugh, why don't they sell it in the bookstore? I NEED some Nutella!" and then, lo and behold, what was in your package? A HUGE JAR hahahaha we about DIED laughing. She said, "You told your mom, didn't you?" hahahah. It was perfect. We took it to breakfast so all the elders could have some on their bagels and bananas and stuff.
Well, my brain is really scattered and I can't remember what else I was going to tell you...
Oh yeah! So I thought you might be interested to know that in the 61 days I have been here, we have sung 'Called to Serve' 24 times. (half in German, half in English).
Well, I love you all lots! Wish me luck in Germany!
Kristin
P.S. Matt and Melinda - I loved your package! I got it forever ago and I sent you a glowing letter about what awesome siblings you are and how cute Adelaide is, but I think it probably got to VA after you left. I love you lots! Thank you so much!
Friday, December 24, 2010
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Week 7 (11 days 'til Germany!)
Guten Tag!
It's getting closer and closer to Christmas, which means my departure date is coming closer too! All of us are getting really excited, but also really nervous. Also, a sister going to Berlin (my old roommate, Sister Risemay) sent a letter to me yesterday. She has been in Germany for about three weeks, and apparently it is sooooooooo cold there right now! In her letter she said, "Yesterday, the high was 20 degrees Fahrenheit, and the temperature is supposed to plummet next week." Yikes! I'm really excited, though. And it's already been crazy cold here in Provo, so I don't feel totally unprepared.
So a couple of exciting things happened this week. First of all, I got called to give a talk in Sacrament Meeting, which was cool! I think I told you already, but the way they do it in my branch is that everyone prepares a talk in German, and then right after we take the sacrament, the Branch President calls two people at random to come up and talk. In a way it was kind of nice, because I didn't have time to get psyched out! I just walked up there and gave it! A bunch of people complimented me on my German afterward, which made me feel good.
Another cool thing is that we had the BYU Men's Choir at the MTC for the Fireside on Sunday. They are AMAZING. I love men's voices. They sang a bunch of Christmas songs and showed some really cool video clips and such.
We also got a new roommate on Tuesday, Sister Nieman, who is also going to Frankfurt! She is already fluent in German, though, so they fast-tracked her and she moved into a different zone, different branch, and different room even. But we had fun for the two nights she slept in our room. She's a convert, so she shared her conversion story and everything with us. It makes me excited when I hear conversion stories, because soon I'll be the missionary in those stories! Yay! Aaaaaagh I can't even believe how soon Germany is!
Also, I got a really nice Christmas email from the Stake Presidency today. If you see President Lundgren soon, tell him thank you for me. It was really nice. Maybe I'll forward it to you, Mom.
What else..... Hmmm.... Oh, so I don't have my travel plans quite yet, but they're supposed to be here tonight or tomorrow morning. I was hoping I'd have them in time for me to email them to you, but I guess I'll just write them down and mail them to you with my handwritten letter, Mom. I hope I have a long layover so I have lots of time to talk!
Okay, well that's about it. My testimony is growing and filling me up inside. I love the MTC, but I can't wait for the field, life is good, and the Church is true!
I love you all so much!
Love,
Sister Jensen
It's getting closer and closer to Christmas, which means my departure date is coming closer too! All of us are getting really excited, but also really nervous. Also, a sister going to Berlin (my old roommate, Sister Risemay) sent a letter to me yesterday. She has been in Germany for about three weeks, and apparently it is sooooooooo cold there right now! In her letter she said, "Yesterday, the high was 20 degrees Fahrenheit, and the temperature is supposed to plummet next week." Yikes! I'm really excited, though. And it's already been crazy cold here in Provo, so I don't feel totally unprepared.
So a couple of exciting things happened this week. First of all, I got called to give a talk in Sacrament Meeting, which was cool! I think I told you already, but the way they do it in my branch is that everyone prepares a talk in German, and then right after we take the sacrament, the Branch President calls two people at random to come up and talk. In a way it was kind of nice, because I didn't have time to get psyched out! I just walked up there and gave it! A bunch of people complimented me on my German afterward, which made me feel good.
Another cool thing is that we had the BYU Men's Choir at the MTC for the Fireside on Sunday. They are AMAZING. I love men's voices. They sang a bunch of Christmas songs and showed some really cool video clips and such.
We also got a new roommate on Tuesday, Sister Nieman, who is also going to Frankfurt! She is already fluent in German, though, so they fast-tracked her and she moved into a different zone, different branch, and different room even. But we had fun for the two nights she slept in our room. She's a convert, so she shared her conversion story and everything with us. It makes me excited when I hear conversion stories, because soon I'll be the missionary in those stories! Yay! Aaaaaagh I can't even believe how soon Germany is!
Also, I got a really nice Christmas email from the Stake Presidency today. If you see President Lundgren soon, tell him thank you for me. It was really nice. Maybe I'll forward it to you, Mom.
What else..... Hmmm.... Oh, so I don't have my travel plans quite yet, but they're supposed to be here tonight or tomorrow morning. I was hoping I'd have them in time for me to email them to you, but I guess I'll just write them down and mail them to you with my handwritten letter, Mom. I hope I have a long layover so I have lots of time to talk!
Okay, well that's about it. My testimony is growing and filling me up inside. I love the MTC, but I can't wait for the field, life is good, and the Church is true!
I love you all so much!
Love,
Sister Jensen
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Week 6
Hi family!
How are you all? Thank you all for the letters and Dear Elders! This week has been so awesome. I'm getting really excited because we get our travel plans by the end of next week! It's crazy how fast time is flying. I can't even remember what all happened this week to write about it.
We're officially not required to wear tights/nylons anymore, which caused much rejoicing among the sister missionaries. Except... now I actually kind of love wearing them. But in summer it'll be nice.
Did you all get to see the First Presidency devotional? The Christmas one? They broadcast it here on Sunday, and I really enjoyed it. Especially President Uchtdorf talking about the Grinch :)
So we have taught lessons in German twice now, and both times were sooooooo bad hahahah. I mean, we can talk just fine, but the volunteer investigators speak much better German than us, so we panic every time they ask questions. Also, there's one volunteer who comes every week, Herr Cuvelier, and somehow we ALWAYS manage to teach him haha. We have taught him three times now, but each time he's a different investigator so we have to pretend we've never seen him before. This week he decided he was Muslim, so we had to explain God and Jesus Christ to him, and how they were different from Allah and Muhammed hahahahah IN GERMAN. Afterwards we just laughed so hard. Sometimes the TRC (where we teach the investigators) is borderline humiliating. But we learn so much every time, and it's always funny afterward.
What else... oh, so Mom, I wanted to tell you about Sister Curtis. Sister Curtis is our branch president's wife, and she is really good about checking up on us girls, and coming and making sure we're healthy, and visiting our residence halls to say goodnight to us every Tuesday, stuff like that. Every time we see her we get about five hugs from her. She reminds me a lot of Sister Harlon, actually. I should send you a picture. Anyway, she told us this week, "Everyone, I want you to write your mothers and tell them that if they're worrying about you, Mom Curtis is looking out for you." hahaha. She is so sweet. So anyway, just know that she is giving me proxy hugs for you.
Well, that's about it, I know I'm forgetting stuff but my laundry's almost done anyway. If I get my travel plans before next time I email I'll let you know what time I have my layovers and where and all of that.
I love you all so much!
Sister Jensen
How are you all? Thank you all for the letters and Dear Elders! This week has been so awesome. I'm getting really excited because we get our travel plans by the end of next week! It's crazy how fast time is flying. I can't even remember what all happened this week to write about it.
We're officially not required to wear tights/nylons anymore, which caused much rejoicing among the sister missionaries. Except... now I actually kind of love wearing them. But in summer it'll be nice.
Did you all get to see the First Presidency devotional? The Christmas one? They broadcast it here on Sunday, and I really enjoyed it. Especially President Uchtdorf talking about the Grinch :)
So we have taught lessons in German twice now, and both times were sooooooo bad hahahah. I mean, we can talk just fine, but the volunteer investigators speak much better German than us, so we panic every time they ask questions. Also, there's one volunteer who comes every week, Herr Cuvelier, and somehow we ALWAYS manage to teach him haha. We have taught him three times now, but each time he's a different investigator so we have to pretend we've never seen him before. This week he decided he was Muslim, so we had to explain God and Jesus Christ to him, and how they were different from Allah and Muhammed hahahahah IN GERMAN. Afterwards we just laughed so hard. Sometimes the TRC (where we teach the investigators) is borderline humiliating. But we learn so much every time, and it's always funny afterward.
What else... oh, so Mom, I wanted to tell you about Sister Curtis. Sister Curtis is our branch president's wife, and she is really good about checking up on us girls, and coming and making sure we're healthy, and visiting our residence halls to say goodnight to us every Tuesday, stuff like that. Every time we see her we get about five hugs from her. She reminds me a lot of Sister Harlon, actually. I should send you a picture. Anyway, she told us this week, "Everyone, I want you to write your mothers and tell them that if they're worrying about you, Mom Curtis is looking out for you." hahaha. She is so sweet. So anyway, just know that she is giving me proxy hugs for you.
Well, that's about it, I know I'm forgetting stuff but my laundry's almost done anyway. If I get my travel plans before next time I email I'll let you know what time I have my layovers and where and all of that.
I love you all so much!
Sister Jensen
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Week 5
Okay, sorry again! I'm really late on posting this one. We'll have another one in just two days. My apologies...
Hallo, familie!
Wie gehts? This week has been yet another wonderful week at the MTC! The Christmas lights are up on the campus, and it finally snowed a ton, so the atmosphere is feeling very festive! I made a red and green paper chain to decorate our classroom, and each day we rip off a link -- counting down until the day we leave! I'm starting to get really nervous/excited now that I'm past the halfway point. I'll be in the field in no time!
How is everyone back home? I hope you're all happy and healthy! EVERYONE got sick here. Like half the MTC at least. I finally caught it, despite my plethora of vitamins I was taking. Man there was just no stopping it. The worst part is that when someone gets sick and has to stay in bed, the companion has to stay home, too, and since there are three of us, and we all got sick at different times, we ended up missing quite a bit of class last week. But luckily we're pretty much all better now!
Another district in our zone left, going to the Alpine mission, so it's pretty quite with lots of empty classrooms on our floor, but that will change soon since we're getting 30 new missionaries next week! I'm really excited. I hope there are some more sisters coming in. On our floor we have all the German speaking classes, Icelandic, Dutch, Danish and Swedish. At the far end we had Portuguese but they're all gone now because they finally got their Visas. Apparently portuguese visas are sehr hard to get. The floor below us is mostly Russian speaking, which is fun haha. We have turf wars.
Hmmm.... what else.... Oh, for devotional on Tuesday Julie B. Beck came! She is so cool. All of us girls were so excited, and elders were like, "Who is Julie B. Beck?" hahahaha. She gave the coolest talk, too. By the end, the elders were all saying, "Man, maybe I should watch the relief society broadcasts from now on, because that was awesome!" hahahaha.
Oh, so we had our very first TRC teaching appointment in German! It was SO NERVEWRACKING. Oh man. At the end we were like shaking and one of my companions looked about ready to cry. Needless to say, we are not pros at speaking German yet. I mean, we can say a few sentences, but nothing prepared me for our "investigator" asking me to explain things like unpaid clergy and why we don't do infant baptism. I have soooooo much to work on! Seriously, I sometimes I get really discouraged because I just want to be fluent and be able to say everything I want to say, you know? But it's coming along. We have 4-5 hour periods at a time where we're only allowed to speak German, and I'm always surprised at how much I can say. We're going to do some serious practicing for next week's TRC, so that we don't fail so bad next time.
I'm still loving the MTC! I'm learning so much every day. I wish everyone could come here, just so they could feel the spirit that's here. It's wonderful.
Oh, one more random thing: I did sealings for the first time today! (Missionaries are only allowed to be proxies for children) It was very cool! The provo temple has about 14 sealing rooms haha.
Jess - I'm adding to your assignments: I also need the lyrics to 'God rest ye merry gentlemen' and 'Oh come oh come emmanuel'. Pretty please? :3 Love you!
Grandma - Thank you for the pillowcase! I snuggle with it every night and think of you. I'm writing you a letter today, too, and you should get it soon. Love you!
Mom - Sorry to hear about your travel plans getting cancelled. Glad you got some work done, hope you have something fun planned to celebrate your hard work!
I love you all so much!
Smile!
The church is true!
Love,
Sister Jensen
Hallo, familie!
Wie gehts? This week has been yet another wonderful week at the MTC! The Christmas lights are up on the campus, and it finally snowed a ton, so the atmosphere is feeling very festive! I made a red and green paper chain to decorate our classroom, and each day we rip off a link -- counting down until the day we leave! I'm starting to get really nervous/excited now that I'm past the halfway point. I'll be in the field in no time!
How is everyone back home? I hope you're all happy and healthy! EVERYONE got sick here. Like half the MTC at least. I finally caught it, despite my plethora of vitamins I was taking. Man there was just no stopping it. The worst part is that when someone gets sick and has to stay in bed, the companion has to stay home, too, and since there are three of us, and we all got sick at different times, we ended up missing quite a bit of class last week. But luckily we're pretty much all better now!
Another district in our zone left, going to the Alpine mission, so it's pretty quite with lots of empty classrooms on our floor, but that will change soon since we're getting 30 new missionaries next week! I'm really excited. I hope there are some more sisters coming in. On our floor we have all the German speaking classes, Icelandic, Dutch, Danish and Swedish. At the far end we had Portuguese but they're all gone now because they finally got their Visas. Apparently portuguese visas are sehr hard to get. The floor below us is mostly Russian speaking, which is fun haha. We have turf wars.
Hmmm.... what else.... Oh, for devotional on Tuesday Julie B. Beck came! She is so cool. All of us girls were so excited, and elders were like, "Who is Julie B. Beck?" hahahaha. She gave the coolest talk, too. By the end, the elders were all saying, "Man, maybe I should watch the relief society broadcasts from now on, because that was awesome!" hahahaha.
Oh, so we had our very first TRC teaching appointment in German! It was SO NERVEWRACKING. Oh man. At the end we were like shaking and one of my companions looked about ready to cry. Needless to say, we are not pros at speaking German yet. I mean, we can say a few sentences, but nothing prepared me for our "investigator" asking me to explain things like unpaid clergy and why we don't do infant baptism. I have soooooo much to work on! Seriously, I sometimes I get really discouraged because I just want to be fluent and be able to say everything I want to say, you know? But it's coming along. We have 4-5 hour periods at a time where we're only allowed to speak German, and I'm always surprised at how much I can say. We're going to do some serious practicing for next week's TRC, so that we don't fail so bad next time.
I'm still loving the MTC! I'm learning so much every day. I wish everyone could come here, just so they could feel the spirit that's here. It's wonderful.
Oh, one more random thing: I did sealings for the first time today! (Missionaries are only allowed to be proxies for children) It was very cool! The provo temple has about 14 sealing rooms haha.
Jess - I'm adding to your assignments: I also need the lyrics to 'God rest ye merry gentlemen' and 'Oh come oh come emmanuel'. Pretty please? :3 Love you!
Grandma - Thank you for the pillowcase! I snuggle with it every night and think of you. I'm writing you a letter today, too, and you should get it soon. Love you!
Mom - Sorry to hear about your travel plans getting cancelled. Glad you got some work done, hope you have something fun planned to celebrate your hard work!
I love you all so much!
Smile!
The church is true!
Love,
Sister Jensen
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Week 4 (Turkey day!)
Good afternoon!
It is a beautiful bright, cold day in Provo! The sky is blue and the mountains are covered with snow (although the ground is clear down here).
It's a little strange to be in the MTC on Thanksgiving day, but also wonderful. To explain why it has been wonderful, so far, I will share a quote with you from this morning's devotional:
"We are here to be your family today. We don't want anyone to be homesick. Today, the Holland's are your family." ~ Jeffrey R. Holland
Yes, we were privaledged to be visited by Jeffrey R. Holland this morning! His whole family came, actually! Including his wife, children, and all 13 of his grandchildren! We never know who the devotional speakers are going to be until they walk in, but we had heard a rumor that it might be Elder Holland today, and he holds such a special place in my heart. So, even though it was freeeeeezing outside, I went wiht some of the other elders/sisters in my zone and waited outside in line for two hours just on the off-chance that it actually was him speaking today. And it was! We actually had a lot of fun. My feet were soooo numb, but we spent the whole time singing hymns and by the end we had the whole line singing. So anyway, I was sitting three rows back, dead center! Not 10 feet away from an apostle of the Lord! He gave the most wonderful talk, too. And there were a couple of times he stared straight at me and smiled! :) :) :) :) :)
Anyway, Elder and Sister Holland wanted us to feel like they were being our families today, and so they both talked (and it was really sweet. I could honestly write this whole email just about the devotional! Aaaagh maybe I'll photocopy my notes and mail them home). So in going with the Holland family theme, they had their grandchildren get up and sing a primary song, and they were sooooooo cute! Seriously adorable. It was funny because all the elders were laughing by the end and all the sister were tearing up haha. It was so wonderful. I have felt so blessed every time we have a devotional, because it feels like I'm getting extra general conference, only better, because they're saying things directly aimed at the 2,000-3,000 of us here at the MTC. I love Elder Holland!
I still did miss you all a lot, though. It was expecially hard last night, because as I was falling asleep all I could think about was how if I was still at school, I'd be waking up the next morning to Grandma already working on the rolls, and I'd go help Grandpa get the folding chairs from the attic and then I'd chat with Grandma while I washed dishes and set the table. I've spent the last 3 Thanksgivings with Grandma! (maybe 4? I can't remember.) Speaking of which, can you make sure to forward this to her? She sent me her email address but I keep forgetting to bring it with me to the computer lab. And tell her I like nuts, but I'm not picky either way (she was asking about Christmas fudge).
Hmmm.... what else... well, this was my schedule today:
6:00 am - Laundry
7:30 am - Breakfast
8:00 - 10:00 am - waiting in line
10:00 - 12:00 pm - Spiritually FEASTING on Elder Hollands words!
12:00 - 1:30 on - Literally FEASTING on Thanksgiving lunch*
NOW - Emailing! (and having MDT/study time)
2:30 - 4:00 - Service project**
4:00 - 5:00 - Sack dinner in our room
5:00 - 6:00 - Thanksgiving program***
6:00 - 8:00 - [Project?]****
*Thanksgiving lunch was awesome! All day yesterday all I was driving people crazy with my talk of yams. ("Do you think they'll have yams? They'd better have yams. I reeeeally hope they have yams. Hey, you, do YOU think they'll have yams? I think they'll have yams. What if they don't have yams?!?! I think I"ll start a mutiny if they don't have yams.") For some reason I just really strongly desired yams. And guess what? THEY HAD YAMS!!!!!!! :) :) :) :) Hahahahahaha. We had turkey and mashed potatoes/gravy/cranberry sauce, green beans, and pumpkin pie. Granted, it was cafeteria style, and not necesarily the most delicious, but I was impressed! The food here isn't super good, usually, probably because they have to feed so many people, but it was decent today!
**We're not sure what the service project is. Probably putting together first aid kits for kids in Africa or something.
***We also don't know what the Thanksgiving program is going to be. My guess is some musical number and some speakers.
****Yet another mystery! the greatest mystery of all is what we'll do after 8:00 pm. A missionary's day usually goes until 9:30 pm and then you go back to your room and get ready for bed. If we have actual free time, it'll be like an unprecidented miracle hahahahah. (they keep us super busy here.)
Oooookay, I need to hurry because I only have 6 minutes left on the clock. I love you all! So much! I hope you had lots to eat today. Thank you all for the letters! Oh, that's another thing. I didn't have much time to write letters today. Normally Thursday is my p-day, but since it's also Thanksgiving I don't really get p-day this week. So, everyone, if you don't get a letter from me, it's not because I don't love you! Especially you, Matt and Melinda. I keep meaning to write you back and I keep running out of time! But I'll write you letters soon. I really enjoyed your letters.
I LOVE YOU! SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Happy Thanksgiving!
With lots of love and hugs,
Sister Jensen
It is a beautiful bright, cold day in Provo! The sky is blue and the mountains are covered with snow (although the ground is clear down here).
It's a little strange to be in the MTC on Thanksgiving day, but also wonderful. To explain why it has been wonderful, so far, I will share a quote with you from this morning's devotional:
"We are here to be your family today. We don't want anyone to be homesick. Today, the Holland's are your family." ~ Jeffrey R. Holland
Yes, we were privaledged to be visited by Jeffrey R. Holland this morning! His whole family came, actually! Including his wife, children, and all 13 of his grandchildren! We never know who the devotional speakers are going to be until they walk in, but we had heard a rumor that it might be Elder Holland today, and he holds such a special place in my heart. So, even though it was freeeeeezing outside, I went wiht some of the other elders/sisters in my zone and waited outside in line for two hours just on the off-chance that it actually was him speaking today. And it was! We actually had a lot of fun. My feet were soooo numb, but we spent the whole time singing hymns and by the end we had the whole line singing. So anyway, I was sitting three rows back, dead center! Not 10 feet away from an apostle of the Lord! He gave the most wonderful talk, too. And there were a couple of times he stared straight at me and smiled! :) :) :) :) :)
Anyway, Elder and Sister Holland wanted us to feel like they were being our families today, and so they both talked (and it was really sweet. I could honestly write this whole email just about the devotional! Aaaagh maybe I'll photocopy my notes and mail them home). So in going with the Holland family theme, they had their grandchildren get up and sing a primary song, and they were sooooooo cute! Seriously adorable. It was funny because all the elders were laughing by the end and all the sister were tearing up haha. It was so wonderful. I have felt so blessed every time we have a devotional, because it feels like I'm getting extra general conference, only better, because they're saying things directly aimed at the 2,000-3,000 of us here at the MTC. I love Elder Holland!
I still did miss you all a lot, though. It was expecially hard last night, because as I was falling asleep all I could think about was how if I was still at school, I'd be waking up the next morning to Grandma already working on the rolls, and I'd go help Grandpa get the folding chairs from the attic and then I'd chat with Grandma while I washed dishes and set the table. I've spent the last 3 Thanksgivings with Grandma! (maybe 4? I can't remember.) Speaking of which, can you make sure to forward this to her? She sent me her email address but I keep forgetting to bring it with me to the computer lab. And tell her I like nuts, but I'm not picky either way (she was asking about Christmas fudge).
Hmmm.... what else... well, this was my schedule today:
6:00 am - Laundry
7:30 am - Breakfast
8:00 - 10:00 am - waiting in line
10:00 - 12:00 pm - Spiritually FEASTING on Elder Hollands words!
12:00 - 1:30 on - Literally FEASTING on Thanksgiving lunch*
NOW - Emailing! (and having MDT/study time)
2:30 - 4:00 - Service project**
4:00 - 5:00 - Sack dinner in our room
5:00 - 6:00 - Thanksgiving program***
6:00 - 8:00 - [Project?]****
*Thanksgiving lunch was awesome! All day yesterday all I was driving people crazy with my talk of yams. ("Do you think they'll have yams? They'd better have yams. I reeeeally hope they have yams. Hey, you, do YOU think they'll have yams? I think they'll have yams. What if they don't have yams?!?! I think I"ll start a mutiny if they don't have yams.") For some reason I just really strongly desired yams. And guess what? THEY HAD YAMS!!!!!!! :) :) :) :) Hahahahahaha. We had turkey and mashed potatoes/gravy/cranberry sauce, green beans, and pumpkin pie. Granted, it was cafeteria style, and not necesarily the most delicious, but I was impressed! The food here isn't super good, usually, probably because they have to feed so many people, but it was decent today!
**We're not sure what the service project is. Probably putting together first aid kits for kids in Africa or something.
***We also don't know what the Thanksgiving program is going to be. My guess is some musical number and some speakers.
****Yet another mystery! the greatest mystery of all is what we'll do after 8:00 pm. A missionary's day usually goes until 9:30 pm and then you go back to your room and get ready for bed. If we have actual free time, it'll be like an unprecidented miracle hahahahah. (they keep us super busy here.)
Oooookay, I need to hurry because I only have 6 minutes left on the clock. I love you all! So much! I hope you had lots to eat today. Thank you all for the letters! Oh, that's another thing. I didn't have much time to write letters today. Normally Thursday is my p-day, but since it's also Thanksgiving I don't really get p-day this week. So, everyone, if you don't get a letter from me, it's not because I don't love you! Especially you, Matt and Melinda. I keep meaning to write you back and I keep running out of time! But I'll write you letters soon. I really enjoyed your letters.
I LOVE YOU! SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Happy Thanksgiving!
With lots of love and hugs,
Sister Jensen
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Week 3
Sorry I'm a little late posting this one. -Jess
Hello family!
Today is yet another beautiful P-day. The weather here is gorgeous!
So we had an exciting week. My room originally had 6 girls in it, but on Tuesday three of them left for Germany! I was really excited for them, but our room is really quiet now without them. But anyway, they're in Germany now (Berlin Mission) and we got a new roommate yesterday. Her name is Sister Dye, and she's pretty cool. But yeah, three whole districts left this week, which means our branch is now about half the size it was. We'll get more German speakers in a couple weeks though.
Oh, so speaking of my branch, everything is in German! The Elders bless the sacrament in German, we sing in German, pray in German, and even in testimony meeting we had to speak German! It's kind of amazing to me how much I can already say. Also, they call the speakers by surprise, so you never know until after the sacrament whether you'll be speaking or not. Everyone prepares a talk on that week's topic (guess what! In German :)) in case they get called up. It's so stressful haha. But it's good, too, because I learn a lot by writing a talk. And they only have to be 5-10 minutes long.
Another cool thing my companions and I did today: there is a morning excercise class, JUST for the sisters, which is awesome, because it's stuff like yoga and kickboxing, and who wants to do that with Elders watching? Anyway, so we went this morning for the first time, and we did pilates, and it was super fun! The only downside is that it's at 6:00 am, and afterwards you only have about 20 minutes to shower and get ready for class. I think we're going to keep going, though, if for no other reason than that they play REAL MUSIC during the class!
Music is definitely the one thing I miss a LOT. We can't even listen to MoTab here. I brought a lot of CDs and music on my iPod, but apparently while you're at the MTC you can't even listen to that. They say it's so that when you get into the field it makes you appreciate music more, plus they've had problems with people coming in from the "outside world" with non-church music and so they decided to blanket ban music in the residence halls. But at the excercise class they play music!
I was keeping track yesterday, and I figured out that I sing, on average, 10 hymns a day, and pray at least that often (as a group. Not counting personal prayers, of course, which are occurring with ever-increasing frequency as the German gets harder.) I spend about 3 hours studying the scriptures, daily. I study teaching for 1-2 hours every day. The rest of my time goes to German! I love it so much. To me, it is a beautiful language. I love the sounds. Even the harsh-sounding ones. It's so fun to speak. My district has a new hobby: yelling in German. Hahahahah so fun. Suuuuuuch a good language to be angry in. (WAS BEDEUTET IHNEN?! NEIN! NEIN!)
Well, I'm running out of time, which is probably okay because I can't think of anything else to say. In general, this week was just another awesome week at the MTC! Love my companions, love my district, love my teachers! The food is starting to get a little boring, but I get to have all the Grape Nuts I could ever want for breakfast! Yessss!
Here's the missionary purpose in German:
Andere Einlade, zu Christus zu kommen, indem wir Ihnen helfen, das Wiederhergestellte Evangelium Jesu Christi anzunehmen. Dies Gescheit, Glauben an Jesus Christus und sein Suhnopfer uben, umkehren, sich taufen lassen, die Gabe des Heilege Geistes emfangen, und bis ans Ende ausharren.
On that note, I love you all! Talk to you again next week! (Thanksgiving!)
Sister Jensen
p.s. pardon all the spelling mistakes.
Hello family!
Today is yet another beautiful P-day. The weather here is gorgeous!
So we had an exciting week. My room originally had 6 girls in it, but on Tuesday three of them left for Germany! I was really excited for them, but our room is really quiet now without them. But anyway, they're in Germany now (Berlin Mission) and we got a new roommate yesterday. Her name is Sister Dye, and she's pretty cool. But yeah, three whole districts left this week, which means our branch is now about half the size it was. We'll get more German speakers in a couple weeks though.
Oh, so speaking of my branch, everything is in German! The Elders bless the sacrament in German, we sing in German, pray in German, and even in testimony meeting we had to speak German! It's kind of amazing to me how much I can already say. Also, they call the speakers by surprise, so you never know until after the sacrament whether you'll be speaking or not. Everyone prepares a talk on that week's topic (guess what! In German :)) in case they get called up. It's so stressful haha. But it's good, too, because I learn a lot by writing a talk. And they only have to be 5-10 minutes long.
Another cool thing my companions and I did today: there is a morning excercise class, JUST for the sisters, which is awesome, because it's stuff like yoga and kickboxing, and who wants to do that with Elders watching? Anyway, so we went this morning for the first time, and we did pilates, and it was super fun! The only downside is that it's at 6:00 am, and afterwards you only have about 20 minutes to shower and get ready for class. I think we're going to keep going, though, if for no other reason than that they play REAL MUSIC during the class!
Music is definitely the one thing I miss a LOT. We can't even listen to MoTab here. I brought a lot of CDs and music on my iPod, but apparently while you're at the MTC you can't even listen to that. They say it's so that when you get into the field it makes you appreciate music more, plus they've had problems with people coming in from the "outside world" with non-church music and so they decided to blanket ban music in the residence halls. But at the excercise class they play music!
I was keeping track yesterday, and I figured out that I sing, on average, 10 hymns a day, and pray at least that often (as a group. Not counting personal prayers, of course, which are occurring with ever-increasing frequency as the German gets harder.) I spend about 3 hours studying the scriptures, daily. I study teaching for 1-2 hours every day. The rest of my time goes to German! I love it so much. To me, it is a beautiful language. I love the sounds. Even the harsh-sounding ones. It's so fun to speak. My district has a new hobby: yelling in German. Hahahahah so fun. Suuuuuuch a good language to be angry in. (WAS BEDEUTET IHNEN?! NEIN! NEIN!)
Well, I'm running out of time, which is probably okay because I can't think of anything else to say. In general, this week was just another awesome week at the MTC! Love my companions, love my district, love my teachers! The food is starting to get a little boring, but I get to have all the Grape Nuts I could ever want for breakfast! Yessss!
Here's the missionary purpose in German:
Andere Einlade, zu Christus zu kommen, indem wir Ihnen helfen, das Wiederhergestellte Evangelium Jesu Christi anzunehmen. Dies Gescheit, Glauben an Jesus Christus und sein Suhnopfer uben, umkehren, sich taufen lassen, die Gabe des Heilege Geistes emfangen, und bis ans Ende ausharren.
On that note, I love you all! Talk to you again next week! (Thanksgiving!)
Sister Jensen
p.s. pardon all the spelling mistakes.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Week 2
And now we bring you the second installment of The Life of Kristin the Missionary, by Jessica Jensen (soon to be a major motion picture!):
Guten Tag!
How are you all? I hope everything is going well at home. I have looooooved all of your letters. Mom and Jess, thanks for the Dear Elders! Those are always fun because they print them out and hand them out at the end of the day, and it's cool because I know you wrote them just a few hours ago! So fun.
So I am continuing to LOVE the MTC! It is such an amazing place. And I'm learning German crazy fast, which doesn't make sense because the way they teach here is insane and would never work in real life were it not for the Gift of Tongues. Seriously. I look at our syllabus and I'm like, "No way." We do things in a day that took me weeks/months to learn when I did Spanish. It helps that I'm in class ALL DAY EVERY DAY hahahahah. But apart from that it is so amazing to have so much spiritual development. I have several hours a day to just study the scriptures or study Preach My Gospel. I'm also working my way through Jesus the Christ which is such a wonderful book. It is helping me understand the Savior and the political/cultural environment during his life on earth! I"m learning lots of cool stuff about the temple, too.
Speaking of which, I went to the temple earlier today! We go once a week (on P-days) and it's really nice because it's a beautiful walk up there, and we get to go all together as a district. Also, it's free for misionaries to rent clothing, and they actually have really pretty dresses for the Sisters. :)
Oh.... what else...... OH! Mom, you'll appreciate this: I met SHERI DEW on Sunday! It was sooooo cool! Man she is such a strong woman. She came and talked at a fireside and they had all the sisters sit way up in the front, since we probably were way more excited to see Sheri Dew than the elders were. So yeah, I was literally in the front row staring strait up at her, and afterward we got to go talk to her and shake her hand and such, so that was cool.
Also, Elder Bednar came on Tuesday! That's our second Apostle in two weeks! (M. Russell Ballard was last week) I feel so blessed! I feel spoiled, actually. To get to hear two apostles speak directly to us is such a blessing. Elder Bednar's talk was super doctrinal and made so many things I've been studying completely clear in my mind. He is so smart. But one of my favorite quotes from the night was, "I don't have what it takes to be an apostle. I'm not strong enough, I'm not smart enough, I just don't have what it takes. But in the strength of the Lord I can do ALL things." It gave me chills. He also talked about some really practical things, like how to answer really tough questions from investigators (like if an investigator askes about polygamy or something hard like that). At the end he gave us a beautiful apostolic blessing.
My companions continue to be awesome. We have so much fun. I'm going to have rock hard abs just from all the laughing we do. I can't believe I've been here for two weeks already! New missionaries came in yesterday (although none going to Germany) and I was like, "Hey, new elders! Wait, that was US. Two weeks ago."
Oh, so I didn't have a lot of time last week to go into depth, but I'll fly out of Salt Lake on Dec. 27, so I'll still be in the MTC on Christmas and it's very unlikely that I'll get to call home :( but I will get to call home from the airport, so hopefull I'll have a really long layover somewhere and can just hop on a payphone. It'll be interesting to spend two holidays here (Thanksgiving and Christmas) and see what it's like. I'm a little sad that I won't be in Germany by Christmas, but the really cool thing is that I'll still be with Sister Cannon and Sister Deitrich, and they are already such good friends. So we'll make it fun. Plus I hear rumors that they have a really cool Christmas program planned, and they keep you really busy on holidays so that you don't sit around and mope hahah.
By the way, my teachers here are so cool. Bru. Naumann has only been home for 2 months (did I tell you this already?) and Bru. McCracken has been home for about a year, and he just got engaged! They're super fun. We goof off in class a lot and have all these inside jokes and stuff, and I feel like they're just another couple of elders. It's weird to think that they leave the MTC and go into the *outside world* after class hahaha.
Okay, I only have five minutes left on the clock, but I just want to say that I love you all soooooo much! I love getting letters from you. I hope everything is going well. Keep me updated on things at home and give all the pets snuggles for me.
The Church is true! I can't believe I'll be in Germany in less than two months! So exciting!
Lots of love,
Sister Jensen
Guten Tag!
How are you all? I hope everything is going well at home. I have looooooved all of your letters. Mom and Jess, thanks for the Dear Elders! Those are always fun because they print them out and hand them out at the end of the day, and it's cool because I know you wrote them just a few hours ago! So fun.
So I am continuing to LOVE the MTC! It is such an amazing place. And I'm learning German crazy fast, which doesn't make sense because the way they teach here is insane and would never work in real life were it not for the Gift of Tongues. Seriously. I look at our syllabus and I'm like, "No way." We do things in a day that took me weeks/months to learn when I did Spanish. It helps that I'm in class ALL DAY EVERY DAY hahahahah. But apart from that it is so amazing to have so much spiritual development. I have several hours a day to just study the scriptures or study Preach My Gospel. I'm also working my way through Jesus the Christ which is such a wonderful book. It is helping me understand the Savior and the political/cultural environment during his life on earth! I"m learning lots of cool stuff about the temple, too.
Speaking of which, I went to the temple earlier today! We go once a week (on P-days) and it's really nice because it's a beautiful walk up there, and we get to go all together as a district. Also, it's free for misionaries to rent clothing, and they actually have really pretty dresses for the Sisters. :)
Oh.... what else...... OH! Mom, you'll appreciate this: I met SHERI DEW on Sunday! It was sooooo cool! Man she is such a strong woman. She came and talked at a fireside and they had all the sisters sit way up in the front, since we probably were way more excited to see Sheri Dew than the elders were. So yeah, I was literally in the front row staring strait up at her, and afterward we got to go talk to her and shake her hand and such, so that was cool.
Also, Elder Bednar came on Tuesday! That's our second Apostle in two weeks! (M. Russell Ballard was last week) I feel so blessed! I feel spoiled, actually. To get to hear two apostles speak directly to us is such a blessing. Elder Bednar's talk was super doctrinal and made so many things I've been studying completely clear in my mind. He is so smart. But one of my favorite quotes from the night was, "I don't have what it takes to be an apostle. I'm not strong enough, I'm not smart enough, I just don't have what it takes. But in the strength of the Lord I can do ALL things." It gave me chills. He also talked about some really practical things, like how to answer really tough questions from investigators (like if an investigator askes about polygamy or something hard like that). At the end he gave us a beautiful apostolic blessing.
My companions continue to be awesome. We have so much fun. I'm going to have rock hard abs just from all the laughing we do. I can't believe I've been here for two weeks already! New missionaries came in yesterday (although none going to Germany) and I was like, "Hey, new elders! Wait, that was US. Two weeks ago."
Oh, so I didn't have a lot of time last week to go into depth, but I'll fly out of Salt Lake on Dec. 27, so I'll still be in the MTC on Christmas and it's very unlikely that I'll get to call home :( but I will get to call home from the airport, so hopefull I'll have a really long layover somewhere and can just hop on a payphone. It'll be interesting to spend two holidays here (Thanksgiving and Christmas) and see what it's like. I'm a little sad that I won't be in Germany by Christmas, but the really cool thing is that I'll still be with Sister Cannon and Sister Deitrich, and they are already such good friends. So we'll make it fun. Plus I hear rumors that they have a really cool Christmas program planned, and they keep you really busy on holidays so that you don't sit around and mope hahah.
By the way, my teachers here are so cool. Bru. Naumann has only been home for 2 months (did I tell you this already?) and Bru. McCracken has been home for about a year, and he just got engaged! They're super fun. We goof off in class a lot and have all these inside jokes and stuff, and I feel like they're just another couple of elders. It's weird to think that they leave the MTC and go into the *outside world* after class hahaha.
Okay, I only have five minutes left on the clock, but I just want to say that I love you all soooooo much! I love getting letters from you. I hope everything is going well. Keep me updated on things at home and give all the pets snuggles for me.
The Church is true! I can't believe I'll be in Germany in less than two months! So exciting!
Lots of love,
Sister Jensen
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Change of Command
Hello everyone! This is Kristin's older, more attractive sister, Jessica. Kristin's a missionary now, which means I have COMPLETE CONTROL OF HER BLOG. Mwahahaha! I could use my newfound powers to post embarrassing stories from Kristin's childhood, or turn this blog to my own evil purposes, but instead I'm just going to post all of the e-mails that Kristin sends to us while she's on her mission. I hope you enjoy them! (P.S. Everyone knows that Kristin's really the more attractive one. :P)
Here goes the first one:
Hallo, family!
This is my first MTC email! It's actually really stressful because I only have 30 min. to write and there's a GIANT COUNTDOWN at the top of the screen hahahaha. So basically you should send letters via Dear Elder.com because that way I can spend my whole 30 min. writing instead of reading. (By the way, thank you for all the Dear Elders mom! I love getting them and hearing from you, because I miss being able to call you!)
So I've said it probably a million times already, but the MTC is AWESOME! I love it here! I love everything about it! (Except perhaps the food, which is like.... cafeteria food and probably sooooo bad for me haha. But even that is awesome because I eat three solid meals a day instead of snacking all the time. Off topic! ;) )
So: cool stories. M. Russel Ballard was here on Tuesday! He gave the devotional and his talk was wonderful! He gave a lot of really good advice about being a missionary. I was inspired. Here is one of my favorite quotes from his talk:
"Our purpose as missionaries is to take people out of the darkness of the world, or the despair of the world, or wherever we find them, and make saints out of them." That's my goal!
German is coming along really well! I'm learning it suprisingly fast, actually. It must be the gift of tongues. The spirit is so strong here that I feel like I'm constantly immersed in it. I love that I have so much time to just study the scriptures.
Another awesome thing about the MTC: the Elders are such gentlemen! I don't think I've had to open a door since I got here. They're always holding doors, and smiling and being so nice. And at dinner they always take our (mine and my companions') trays for us. At breakfast today we started to stand up with our trays and the Elders in our district actually yelled at us, hahaa. It was funny. They were like, "Sisters! Sisters! What are you doing? PUT THEM DOWN." hahaha and they took them for us. It always makes us feel really special. The ratio of Elders to Sisters is ridiculous. Like at least 10:1. The Elders in my district are so wonderful. Hard to believe they're recent high school grads. When I got here I felt so old, but now it's just fun. We're all good buddies already. One fun thing about Elders holding doors is that we're all learning different languages, so I'll say "Danke!" (thank you, in German) and they'll say, "De nada" back (you're welcome, in Spanish). And people are always coming up and contacting us on the sidewalk to practice bearing their testimonies to us in Japanese, and we'll bear ours in German to them (I'm getting really good at bearing my testimony in German, but I still struggle with vocab sometimes because there are things that I want to say that I don't have the vocabulary for.) This really is a wonderful place.
Sorry I'm bouncing all over the place in this letter. Mom, I just wrote you a pretty long one with more details and stuff. Today is P-day, which means I get to wear pants! Wooooo! P-day ends at 6 pm though and then it's back to class! Right now I'm doing laundry. I went to the temple this morning with my companions.
MY COMPANIONS! They are wonderful. I have two companions. We're in a 'drit' (or trio) which is pretty common for sisters, actually. There's another trio of german sisters in our room. (we have six girls to a room, three sets of bunkbeds) We have so much fun. We are always laughing. My companions are Sister Deitrich and Sister Cannon. Mom, Sister Cannon is the girl I was emailing before I left for the MTC, and she's super cool. We have a lot in common and our personalities are so similar that we work really well together. The three of us are all really goal oriented, so we're making lots of goals and staying on track with them, which really helps! Right now we're working on a goal to read the BOM before we leave. I'll send pictures of them when I get a chance.
Okay a few more random things:
- the German hymn book has 'Come thou fount of every blessing' in it! English does not.
- I'll still be here in the MTC for Christmas. I depart for Germany Dec. 27.
I'm running out of time! Aaagh! So much more to say! I'll write letters and write more next week.
I love you!
Mom, I sent this to jess, but I'm not sure I have the right address. Make sure she gets it and let me know if she has troubles putting it on my blog.
Love you!
Bye!
- Sister Jensen
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Mission Clothes
Since I leave for the MTC in FIVE DAYS (panic!) I'm packing all my stuff. But before I pack away my mission clothes, here are a few pictures so you'll know what I'll look like for the next 18 months.
Shopping for skirts was a lot harder than I thought it would be. I almost gave up all hope of finding skirts that were long enough and resort to muumuus. Lucky for everyone, I found some cute skirts in the end. I got most of them from Sorella Bella.
These are not the shoes I'll be wearing most of the time. My real mission shoes look like the kind diabetics wear. They're so ugly. But soooo comfy.
Just five more days, and then it's auf Wiedersehen! I'm so excited!!!!!!
These are not the shoes I'll be wearing most of the time. My real mission shoes look like the kind diabetics wear. They're so ugly. But soooo comfy.
Just five more days, and then it's auf Wiedersehen! I'm so excited!!!!!!Friday, July 30, 2010
Down the Rabbit Hole
I’ve been obsessed with Alice in Wonderland lately. I decided it was high time I read the book, and I quickly fell in love with Lewis Carroll, as well as his original illustrator.
To me, New York City is quite a lot like Wonderland. It’s confusing, there are strange people and it’s easy to get lost. But it’s also fun, exciting, filled to the brim with imagination and becomes exponentially more enjoyable if you’re willing to just “go with it.” Who knows, maybe next time I eat one of those street-vendor falafels it will make me shrink or grow.
In any case, I decided to have an Alice in Wonderland-themed day (or perhaps Kristin in Wonderland), where I visited all of the Alice locales I could find around New York City.
The first stop: the famous Alice in Wonderland statue in Central Park.
It’s a particularly charming statue because there are always children climbing on it. I think it’s rather appropriate. The man who donated the statue wanted it that way. It’s in honor of his late wife who “loved all children.” 
Next up, after a looooong stroll, I stopped in at the 50th street station (on the 1 line) where there are some fantastic Alice in Wonderland murals:
I ended the day at an adorable café called Alice’s Tea Cup (102 W 73rd Street), where they had every kind of tea imaginable, delicious sandwiches, highly tempting desserts and – of course – a lot of awesome Alice memorabilia.
The Queen of Hearts made some tarts. And I ate them. (Shh, don't tell.)
A couple of days later, I met a poet in Washington Square who did “poetry while you wait” and I engaged him to write me a poem. When he asked for a subject, I said, “New York City as Wonderland.” He busted out this awesome poem:
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Deutschland!
I am also trying to teach myself German, and with the help of Rosetta Stone it's coming along quite well. I can now say some very useful phrases, such as:
Ich heiße Kristin. Die Fahrrader sind gelb. Diene Katze is auf dem Tisch. Ist das Ihr Hut?
(My name is Kristin. The bikes are yellow. Your cat is on the table. Is this your hat?)
Obviously those are key phrases to know. I figure I'll be completely fluent by next week.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
The Cathedral of St. John the Divine
So, I was on my way home the other day and went one subway stop too far so I had to walk, but I was glad I did, because on the way home I discovered this AWESOME cathedral!
So then I turned the corner to get a better look and discovered that it was only a side building to a much bigger cathedral 
It’s called the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine. Luckily I had my camera on me, and I was able to join all the Asian tourists in some picture-taking. 
Also, I’m pretty sure that’s George Washington in the middle of this door: 
In the back they had this really cool sculpture garden, the most awesome of which was this epic sculpture of St. John: 
I’m pretty sure St. John is holding a giraffe. Don’t ask me why. Here’s a more epic picture: 
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Where I Live
I finally have pictures!
It’s Sunday so I’m going to try to catch up on all the things I meant to blog about. Anyway, I’m all settled in now and I snapped a few pictures. This is where I live:
And this is where I work: 
This is my room:
The furniture, most of the decorations, and even the bedspread belongs to the girl I’m subletting from. The Beatles poster is -- of course -- mine. It’s the only decoration I brought with me. Here’s the outside of my building. I’m on the top floor.
Here’s the view! Lovely lovely.
More posts coming; I did some cool stuff this weekend. Tuesday, June 1, 2010
NEW YORK!
I'm here! It's very surreal, actually. Every time I get on a subway I feel like I'm secretly in a movie.
I don't have a lot of pictures yet (it turns out I brought the camera without the memory card. Fail.) but needless to say, it's awesome! I walked past the Empire State Building on my way to work this morning and nearly wet my pants. Also, my apartment is across the street from Central Park. Literally across the street.
Work is good so far. Everyone is really friendly, and the projects they're working on sound really exciting! My boss actually gave me and the other intern tickets to the Yankees game today, which was pretty awesome (the Yankees won). Anyway, kind of a short random update.
I want to make these: http://smittenkitchen.com/2010/06/root-beer-float-cupcakes/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+smittenkitchen+(smitten+kitchen)
this was me in high school: http://xkcd.com/747/
These are tea towels, and they are ADORABLE:
And that is all.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
The Gorgeous Gorge
Since I’ll be leaving Oregon soon, Jessica and I took a trip down the Columbia River gorge so I could get my fill of green. It was BEAUTIFUL. We started in Troutdale and got on the Historic Highway and drove past dozens of waterfalls. There are 66 waterfalls in The Gorge – some small, some big (like Multnomah). We mostly stopped for three: Latourell Falls, Shepperd’s Dell Falls, and Multnomah Falls, of course!
The drive itself was stunning, surrounded by forest, catching glimpses of the Columbia River and the occasional flash of a waterfall. To give you a taste of the loveliness, I’ve put together a collage-o’-green:
At Latourell Falls, I decided I’d get as close as possible to the base, which was cool because the wind the waterfall generated was pretty intense. I also got completely soaked by spray, though. :)
Multnomah Falls was beautiful, as always, and Jessie and I took turns taking pictures of each other up on the bridge. Here are my favorites: 
(Jessica, lookin' cute)
(Me being a dork)
All in all it was a lovely trip and the perfect way to see some of the gorgeous Oregon landscape before leaving for New York City. The best part was that I got to spend some fun time with Jessica!
Saturday, March 13, 2010
The Dead Poets Society
Last night Kelsey, Jessie and I had a double feature that also included us eating soooo much little Caesars. We watched ‘The Dead Poets Society,’ which I had never seen before, and I decided it is one of my new favorite movies. It was pretty emotional, though. Particularly at this part:
Robin Williams was phenomenal, although sometimes he was quite crazy, like in the scene below.
Also, I couldn’t get over how tiny and adorable Robert Sean Leonard was!
Afterward, we watched ‘The Devil Wears Prada,’ which was a night lighthearted follow-up after the heavy experience of ‘Dead Poets.’ Although, it led to us wondering: Anne Hathaway’s mouth is enormous, but it seemed extra enormous in ‘Alice in Wonderland.’ Did they digitally make her mouth larger, like they did with Helena Bonham Carter’s forehead, or is her mouth actually just that big?
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