today.

was full of light.

metro?

Ronalynn and I found this advertisement walking around Palm Springs one day. I had to take a picture. I'm glad I did, because today I needed laughter. Maybe you do too. Hope this helps. :)

in motion

These were forgotten. They have been sitting on my point and shoot since I took them the last night in Quebec. When I found them yesterday, I couldn't stop looking. The color, the motion, the stillness within the photos. They are completely imperfect, yet so full of life and beauty, just what I love.

portraiture: erin

Our moms were pregnant together. We were each other's first friend. We had a few hiccups along the way, such as Erin's frustration with my tendency to say lellow instead of yellow at the age of 2 and my permanent jealousy of her perfectly coiffed hair by the time third grade rolled around. But one thing has always been the case, we've always been best friends. Erin is the best friend whom I will unabashedly snoop in her closets - as I did last weekend - and most likely enter her home without knocking for the remainder of my life. Because really, she's more like a sister and represents home in the true sense of the word when I'm with her. She accepts me - crazy and all.

One thing about Erin that you will notice quite quickly is that she is GORGEOUS. She did me the favor of modeling for a portrait shoot a few months ago and here are a few of my faves.








and i fell in love with this last "in between" shot.

newport sundays

Sundays are slow days for me. They call for waking up to sunlight instead of an alarm, a mug of coffee and the newspaper or a good book. Recently, I've taken to driving down to Newport after my slow morning with a friend a few hours before church. Last Sunday, I had the delightful company of Erin who allowed me to do a portrait session with her. I'll be posting a full post with photos from the session, but here are a few photos from the day — reminders of a lovely slow Sunday.





happy slow sunday!

peace

In the midst of a tumultuous week, there have been moments of grace, allowance for tears and places for joy. This photo was an accident and I fell in love with it. It reminds me of peace. So I leave you with this for today.

Peace be with you as I seek peace alongside you.

beach party weekend: january

It was January. The sky had every right to be gray. But it chose to be blue. And I’d like to think it was just for us – the few hours we sat on the front porch of a beach house and sipped coffee and played volleyball on the beach. Then just when we went inside to make lunch, the sky turned gray and little teardrops started to fall from the sky. It had waited for us and I was thankful.

This past January, a group of us first year ISFers took to Newport in comfortable clothes and warmth at our friend Drew's family beach house. It was definitely a blessed weekend and for me, a great getaway from my Old Testament class.

it's a process

It was early. A saturday morning and slightly overcast. Kacey called and I hurriedly gathered the rest of my things to meet her at her car. We were going on retreat. My heart was a little flustered at what to feel. My mind knew this would be good. And my body so looked forward to sleep.

Late that evening after napping and walking briskly — without a need to — about town, I realized something. It had taken me the entire day to finally desire to begin processing life, my spiritual walk, and possibly the comfy bed I was lying in, with God. And I still couldn't.

My life often runs on a level equivalent to the high heat level of a hair dryer. I continue to live my life until it gets too hot, too heavy and I have to take a break, turn on the AC. Unfortunately, in life, that AC should be God, but it's often not. Through this realization, I also realized why I hadn't blogged often the past few months.

Writing is a process for me. It's a place to think about life, contemplate issues, take time to delight in the small things. And the last few months when I sat down to blog, it was as if my mind and soul said, "yay, it's time to process." And my body said, "now, I'm too tired to write and type." I didn't make space to process in between, hence my being overwhelmed every time I attempted to create space — in a too small of space.

As Kacey and I drove home two days later, I came home with a realization, not an entirely spiritual high experience, but a sense that God was revealing to me how much I really need to process with Him, to spend time with Him and to allow Him to work in my life whilst me processing. My mind was right — retreat was good and my heart eventually found a place to sit, the hard part is keeping it there.

Here are few photos from our time in Ocean Beach...

procrastination

it looks like this.

and by 'this' i mean texture, mind wandering and possibly taking random photos with my iPhone.

so happy to say that procrastination will not be needed for at least another week when my summer class starts. lovely...or not so lovely. but for now, lovely.

happy california day.

well, hello there

folks, i may be back. 

with a vengeance. 
and some beauty. 
in words and photos. 
and short sentences. 

short and sweet. love, j

with friends

Nights like tonight remind me why friends are so important. They refresh our souls, they love and carry joy with them and give without expectations. With no pressure to look a certain way or be a certain person, I was able to just be me tonight. And without fluid discussion, I simply sat with a few friends this evening and as we snacked, chatted and crafted with each other, I was able to soak up our friendship and felt washed with love by the time they left, refreshed.

One of my professors has been asking if we have a community who loves us, accepts us, forgives us and models Christ's love to us. Tonight, I was able to taste a bit of that community and why it is so important. It encourages us physically, emotionally and spiritually. And it is one of the most refreshing tastes you can experience.

the photo is a blurry snippet of our crafting tonight. more to come on that. 

oh yes, the last month

February, where did you go. You seemed to be here for so long, yet I seemed to be somewhere else...trapped in a time warp, perhaps? Or maybe under a pile of books? Or in Wonderland? I wish the last was true. Or the second too. Well, wherever I was, which I probably will uncover for you in new posts, I have found myself here wondering about my lack of blogging abilities in March. Never the less, I have returned. 

If this was nonsense, know it is not you. 

Happy Sunday, blog folks. Jenna is back. Yes, in third person too. 

ps. i took this photo on my iPhone while driving and kind of love it. dangerous or victorious?

give a damn?

Listening, breathing in and experiencing a person's story is one of the main reasons I became a journalist. Dan Parris' story is one of those that forces me to listen, breathe in and experience life in a new way. 

The first time Dan and I talked about his documentary project was in a house filled with people a few days before his graduation. Amidst the chatter, I sat in a chair across from Dan who had perched himself on a coffee table and he told me his idea. I had graduated a year earlier and wondered what my life would look like if I took the approach to life as he was. This past November I spoke with Dan again for more than two hours on the phone sitting states away and heard a new story. One filled with adventure, fulfillment, tragedy and hope. Again two weeks ago, I was able to hear yet again where he was at and once again hoped that I approach life with the same approach he does, seeking what God has in store for him and truly following - no matter where that takes him.

Today, Relevant Magazine's Reject Apathy site published an extended version of Dan's story that I had the honor of writing — the original shorter version was published in Biola Magazine. I must thank him for his honest, openness and vulnerability as he told me the story of Give a Damn? and where he is at today after surviving a plane crash during filming. I invite you to read his story: Planes and Perspectives.

rejecting apathy

peering in

on the home of a mushroom.


I saw them on the way to my apartment door. So I promptly set my things down, grabbed my camera, went back outside and photographed their home for a bit. They may be fungi, but they're cute fungi.

happy friday!

pink post-its

Exactly one week and one day ago, I finished my dubious Old Testament class by officially handing in my 20 page research paper on the corpus of poetic and wisdom literature in the Old Testament.

I didn't touch my books or research remnants again, except to return the books loaned to me from the library, until today. And I couldn't help, but laugh, because it seems as though I wrote my entire paper on pink post it notes as I scoured my books for bits of knowledge and wisdom to include in the paper.


Thank goodness it's all over. I gladly tossed those post-its in the trash today. However, not without a bit more knowledge and wisdom bestowed upon me of course.

butta'

Spread on bread. Used instead of mayo. In the pan for almost anything I cook. That would be butter.

I seem to have a love affair with this creamy, smooth, extra delicious substance. The health effects may not escape me in the future, but this substance only well defined as buttery is a little too delectable to ignore. I may sound like the next Paula Dean, but I’d rather refer to myself as the next Julia Child who like any good French cook knows…more butter is never an issue.

So when I saw this as I reached for my favorite healthier butter spread, Earth Balance, I couldn't resist. Mendon Creamery Butter in Roasted Garlic hand churned from fresh sweet cream, roasted garlic and sea salt. My mouth may have dropped a little bit. Followed by a bit of drool as I saw they also had cinnamon sugar butter. 

And here it is in all it's glory and adorable packaging from Whole Foods sitting in my fridge. And I can tell you, I've already come up with about 100 new recipes (or maybe 3) that require a few tablespoons of this delightful butta'.

food, faith & fitness

So for the past three weeks I planned on writing my guidelines for 31 days of ideal living. My whole idea was not to overwhelm myself throughout the year with unattainable New Year resolutions and to wholly live healthier. 

Well, I'd agree I have lived healthier. Yet each time, I'd set out to write the guidelines I was keeping oh so carefully in my head they didn't seem eloquent enough in writing or description. I actually overwhelmed myself by my own writing standards. Slightly ridiculous. So without further ado, here are the guidelines I set — simply stated with no eloquence or detailed descriptions. If you'd like more of an explanation I have significant reasoning behind each of the following.  

food

- Avoid Fast Food
- Cook fresh, organic meals whenever possible 
- Drink one bottle of water a day (actually a stretch for me)

faith

- Spend time talking to God daily and giving each part of me and my day to Him.

fitness

- Work out three times per week.

And lastly, no T.V. I can watch movies, however, I'm trying to avoid watching them by myself as an escape as generally watching T.V. is a negative influence in my life and time-waster. I've already seen positive improvements in my life because of this. 

And some photos from this lovely rainy week: 

Again, impressed by the iPhone camera. 

this morning

I pulled into my parking spot at work, stepped out and saw this.

Not bad for my iPhone camera.

Happy day.