Paris

I leave for Paris at 6 AM tomorrow morning. Wish me luck as I navigate the city and learn about art. I will come back with stories...hopefully good and exciting ones. :)

all scrabbled up

I planned almost every detail and cooked most of the dishes for my family's Christmas this year. During dinner, my Grandpa gave me the best compliment and thank you he could ever give. He said, "Jenna, you did wonderfully. Your grandmother would have been proud. I wish she was here to enjoy it." I couldn't say anything back for a minute or two. I knew I would start crying if I did. I wish she were here too, but I realized something else tonight worth more than her presence.

The day my Grandmother died a neighbor was on her way to surprise her with a game of Scrabble. She had brought a present for my Grandma that day: a Deluxe Edition Scrabble Turntable. The game was never opened by my Grandmother, however, the neighbor lovingly gave the gift to us. The game has remained unopened in our hall closet since then.

Every time I walked in to get a coat, I always wondered if we would ever open it. It was a bittersweet idea. My Grandmother loved Scrabble, which rooted from her love for words. She read 5-6 novels a week, finished multitudes of crosswords, read the dictionary for fun and had the largest vocabulary of anyone I know. When she played scrabble, she was in her element. I know she would have marveled at the idea of a Scrabble turn table. I can picture her hand clasping over her mouth at the loveliness of someone thinking to make such a thing.

Opening that package also presented a bitter idea though, the idea that she really wouldn't be able to tear the wrapping off of the box. She would never be able to marvel at the table and enjoy it.

Tonight I wasn't sure if I really wanted to be doing what I was doing, but I took a knife and slit it through the saran wrapping. I took a look at the front and opened the box. My cousin, Mom, Uncle and I sat at the kitchen table playing Scrabble. It was bittersweet, but it was the most appropriate time to open the box.

This was my first Christmas without the intelligent woman I knew as Grandma and I missed her. I missed her laugh, smile, lips covered in chocolate, curly hair, and even her stubborness. Having a little bit of her through that deluxe edition of Scrabble made me smile because I appreciated playing the game as much she would have and I knew she would have loved playing with us this evening.

Doing something she loves and loving it makes me know she is still here in me. I will always love her and know her love for me lives on in my life through the impact she had on me and the love she always generously gave to me.

Merry Christmas.

balboa nights

My Dad and I set out last night each armed with a camera. Our mission - to take photographs we could frame above the fire place. We arrived at Balboa Pier around 5 just as the sun was setting. Surprisingly, I somehow forgot my memory card (I tend to forget things) so my Dad was gracious enough to let me take turns with him which adversely allowed me to share his tripod too. :) We got some pretty good time exposure shots. None of them necessarily great enough for the mantle, but here are a few favorites from my camera.

Ruby's on the Pier.

I love the way lights look out of focus.

This isn't that great of a shot, but it's awesome because that land mass is actually Catalina Island. It was a really clear night.

The first of many of these.

This one is probably my favorite with the line of palm trees and the coast line. The ocean was gorgeous - the white foam contrasted the deep navy of the sea beautifully.

The full moon is what enabled me to get such lit shots even with the time exposure.

I love these view finders. They seem nostalgic to me.

We took a quick walk down to the fun zone. This is the Ferris Wheel in action. It looked a lot bigger when I was a kid.

Fun zone!

After freezing in the ocean air, my Dad treated us to dinner at Ruby's complete with a black cherry shake.

resume redesign

I am redesigning my resume. As of now it is rather boring and since I live in Orange County, it is getting a face lift. pun intended. I am trying to decide on one of the above fonts for my name to be typed in at the top of my resume. I'm hoping to find a font that suits me so when a possible employer looks at the resume, they say wow, that is the type of person I am looking for - a person who looks like that font, which would be me. (I know I'm crazy, but I enjoy it.) So I need opinions, because I am rather indecisive.

The rules are as following:

1. Whoever reads this must vote.

2. Select one that reminds you of me, not simply because it is pretty.

3. Feel free to state why you chose the font you did.

I am looking forward to hearing back from my 2 or 3 readers. :)

Love, Jenna

ETHS BullETin

Above is my lovely visitor's badge from venturing onto the campus of my alma mater. It was surreal walking back onto campus, but I felt completely at home walking into the newsroom of The BullETin and hearing Mrs. Schaeffer welcome me with a loud exclaimation of "Jenna!", a hug, and then "You look so old!" I gladly took that as a compliment.

For the next half hour, I spoke, yes, spoke, to her high school journalism class about college journalism and what it's like being an editor-in-chief of a university newspaper. I definitely should have brought an outline, I'm very scared I said um one too many times and may have rambled, but the four in the front row at least seemed interested. And then the questions came...from one individual in particular. Andrea asked at least 8 questions and one or two came from other hands. I would have written a recommendation for that girl if I had a reason and credentials to. And then Jason, the editor-in-chief, asked a question, is it important to major in journalism? Apparently a professional journalist had come in the week before and said it wasn't. I got up on my soap box and began to list reasons why it was - networking, resources, education, and so on. When I was done, he said he was relieved, because that's what he was going for.

I began to explain the cycle of our newsroom and the bell rang. Jason stayed put, Andrea opened her lunch, and Aaron who had been quiet but attentive stayed as well. I was able to chat with each of them about different topics over their lunch period and left when the next bell rang. I was surprised how fast it went by, but I left feeling like I had just been to Disneyland. Maybe it was the fact that I realized I do know what I'm talking about or the fact that there were a few that stayed behind to talk or that Mrs. Schaefer said I looked older - whatever it was, I had fun! I may not be the best public speaker, but I enjoyed talking to those students more than writing articles. I've always thought about teaching, and I'm not planning on teaching anytime soon but today did put it back in the ranks for a career choice. And Jason definitely reminded me of why I am majoring in journalism. I want to know how things work and how best to communicate those to the public. Without my major, I wouldn't know half the things I talked about today - at least not as well as I do.

Here I am with my visitor's badge. It was the first time going back to ETHS in 3 years. I had dreaded even driving by that campus, not that I didn't like high school - I loved it - there was just something odd about it. Today, it felt right though, kind of like being at home.

hautte cakes caffe

Deanna and I sat down at Hautte Cakes Caffe in Newport Beach and took a few seconds to look around. The place was quaint, but stylish. Sophisticated, but laid back. Colorful, but not overbearing. And when the food came? It was delicious and almost perfect.

My good friend Alyssa introduced me to Hautte Cakes last Spring. I fell in love with the place. It is a hole in the wall restaurant in terms of it's location, but the traffic in the little cafe never stops. Remembering the charm of the restaurant late last night, I had the urge to eat there so I texted Deanna and asked her to go to breakfast. This morning I picked her up 9 a.m. sharp - by sharp I mean 10 minutes late - I'm a girl, what do you expect? I gave her a few details about the delectable treat called Hautte Cakes and she was convinced it was the best place to go.

We sat in the little cafe, chit chatting for a bit, and then our food came - brioche french toast bejeweled with berries and the italian scramble. After splitting everything onto two plates, we ate, and continued to eat until both of us had completely cleared our plates of scramble remnants and rich syrup. We both decided we should go out for breakfast more often - especially to Newport chic hole in the wall cafes named Hautte Cakes.

What restaurant with the words hautte and cake in their name couldn't be good?

at the car wash

Last week, my roommate informed me I could create a new car air freshener: vanilla eggroll. Sounds yummy? After spilling leftover Thai food, having it vaccumed, and then helping it with a vanilla air freshener could get you the same smell. Needless to say I have been driving with my windows down the past week. Today, I finally had time to work out a deal with the car wash to just shampoo my trunk. When I went last Monday, they told me they had to do the entire car for $45. I said no.

Today I pulled into the carwash in sheer determination to not pay $45, but for my trunk to recieve justice from it's Thai juice. (Gross!) I explained to the man that I didn't want all my carpets, just my trunk. No, I didn't want a car wash either. He looked at me like I was crazy. He proceeded to ask me to open my trunk as if there was something he didn't understand. After I opened the trunk and he had taken a good look around, he makes eye contact and proclaims, "It's clean." I almost laughed - if he only knew. At the same time I felt as though I had hidden a dead body in my trunk, relieved myself of it, and now knew that if CSI came around, they would find traces.

After much negotiation, my trunk was shampooed and chemically cleaned for the smell. I drove out with a smile and a shampooed trunk.

Ta ta vanilla eggroll.


ps. if you want to see pics from the chimes christmas party which resulted in the spilled thai food, click on michelle's link under letterpress at the right.

respect

This past week I gained a new respect for my mother...or rather found an old one.

It's finals week and my media integration paper was due last Thursday. Needless to say, it's been a struggle since Thanksgiving. The triptephan in Turkey tends to last weeks after in my tummy - all the way up to my last final. Coffee has filled that nap shaped hole in my heart, and sleep is considered a luxury in my third world country of studying. So last week, the night before my 8 page research paper was due, I was desperate. So I called out the troops which happened to be my mother. She came through for me when I forgot my lunch in third grade and my cheer uniform in high school so I figured why wouldn't she now? And my thoughts were correct. My mother came through for me with her wonder woman costume from high school in the form of grammar and english queen. By the time my mother returned my paper, there were sentences highlighted, phrases crossed out, a lot of commas deleted (apparently they aren't my friends), and my paper was brand spankin' new with gold shiny plating. So maybe not the gold..but it was definitely shining with pretty new sentences and smooth transitions.

Reading through my paper made me realize where I got my little talent for writing and made me respect her knowledge of grammar and English. Although the memories of my sixth grade paper with my mom's red ink smeared all over it looms over my head, that red ink saved my tush this past week.

I called my mom the day I turned it in and she told me to call her when I find out what grade we get. That I will, with a thank you.

Overdue Photos

I never posted photos from our D.C. venture for the ACP conference. Here are my favorites.
All the girls in front of the capitol building. From left to right: Michelle, Faith, Rachelle, Nicole & Rebecca

All of us at dinner one night. They had the best restaurants in DC.

Five Guys is like East Coast In'n out..so good!

Getting excited about The Chimes online and working at the conference.

Waiting for the subway. The girls looked cute in this one, I had to share it.

One of our fuzzy friends. Isn't he cute!

The last night we were there, we took advantage of being in DC and went site-seeing.The trip was a lot of fun and I enjoyed spending time with these girls.

All photos, except the top one, were taken by Faith Martinez.

December

Hopefully I will soon be sitting similar to the above picture that was taken last Christmas.

I can't believe December is already here. It is odd to think I went to England over a month ago and I am already well into the Christmas season. Thanksgiving has passed, I have started Christmas shopping and finals are in less than a week. And to be honest, I am ready for break. I love school, chapel, Biola, the atmosphere, The Chimes, but stick a fork in me - I'm done.

I welcome the new season with open arms, maybe a tear or two that the year is almost over, but I am jumping up and down inside knowing I can rest soon.

Christmas season - welcome home!

Also, my pre-New Year resolution is that I top my blog posts in a month, so expect 13 by December 31. :) You know you lead an exciting life when a resolution is to blog more.