all about me?

so i just spent some time writing a bit about myself...i'm not sure what inspired me to do it but i felt the need to put down in writing some of theses things...this is what i came up with!

about me :

I love reading missed connections stories, in a weird way they give me hope. My middle name is Christine. I love fireplaces and cupcakes. I trust people are always being honest, but know that often they’re not. I was a nanny in England for a year. I am the person blocking your view at concerts, I apologize for that but I like being tall. I think Will Smith would be the coolest celebrity to ever meet. One of my most favourite things in the world is clean laundry. ‘Keep expectations reasonable’ is the best advice I have ever received. I think Love, Actually is one of the best movies ever made. Editing photos gives me joy. I have the best family EVER. Spring is my favourite season; the idea of a fresh start is inspiring. If I had a lot of money I would buy everything that Cath Kidston has ever made. I think drama is a waste of time, life is too short. Music touches my soul, every day. I never wanted a pony or a unicorn but would still myself a girly girl. I think peonies are one of God’s greatest masterpieces. I am scared to have kids because I don’t know what kind of world will be left for them, climate change really worries me. I don’t think that Neil Armstrong walking on the moon was a lie. I kill plants, not because of neglect but rather over love – watering too much is bad apparently. I smile as much as possible. I am addicted to facebook, but who isn’t? Honey Nut Cheerio’s is my favourite cereal. I love surprises. I want my life to mean something. I am indecisive, but when I make up my mind there’s no changing it. I want a dog - badly. I have more notebooks then I have things to write, but I love them even if they’re empty - their potential makes me smile. I procrastinate like it’s my job. I drop pennies on the ground hoping someone who needs luck will find one. I am going to teach English in Korea in 2010. I think waterfalls are beautiful and terrifying. Platypuses amaze me. I love balconies and the cold side of the pillow. Nine times out of ten I will cry when watching Oprah. I try to walk on the sunny of the street. How I Met Your Mother is the most underrated show on T.V. trust me. I am a dreamer and I don’t know if that will ever change, nor do I want it to. I have stood in a cloud. I hate the word moist, even typing it makes me cringe. Don’t Stop Believing by Journey is my all time favourite song. I am an optimist. I love sand dunes and stars. I am happy when I am singing in the car even if I get weird looks from the person next to me. I would love to learn how to sew. I adore picnics. Musicals may not be for everyone but they make me cheerful. All four of my Grandparents immigrated to Canada from Holland; I think that’s pretty cool. I have never opened presents on Christmas morning. I am so blessed. I have had the same hairbrush since I was 10 and I still love it. Hearts are my favourite shape maybe that makes me a hopeless romantic, maybe not. I want all my dreams to come true. I think blue glass is beautiful. I could spend hours and hours in Chapters. I can drive a standard car. I got to go to Live Earth and have never had so much fun standing for 12 hours. Random acts of kindness restore my faith in humanity. My name is Jenna...

random acts of kindness (i've decided to stop numbering my cheerfulness hehe)

random acts of kindness....i love them <3

after a few drinks, and a little dancing i was heading home on the bus with my cousin leona...it was a pretty cold canadian night and i had the hood of my jacket on, just sitting and waiting for our stop. along comes a very cute and perhaps slightly intoxicated guy (haha) who looks at me and says 'you're so beautiful, NEVER let anyone else tell you any different'....there was no reason for him to say this, he was on his way off of the bus he wasn't trying to get into my pants he was just being genuinly nice...and i appreciated it! i'm still thinking about it, and this nice guy who i probably will never meet again has made me cheerful! not that i need to be told i'm beautiful to be cheerful (but hey it is pretty nice) but just that he was so sweet!

its nice to know that nice guys still exist out there...speaking of nice guys! my cousin karen has recently become engaged to a very nice guy named craig! and i have the honour of being a bridesmaid in their wedding this coming june! i'm very excited to experience this all with karen who is more my sister then my cousin! we are going dress shopping on saturday and i can't really contain my excitement! it will be so great!

lots of happiness going around lately! another reason to be happy is that i have one more exam standing between me and my christmas vacation! i am excited to be done! as a treat i am going to buy the twilight books that everyone has been talking about and read them over my break!

ok thats it for now!

xoxox jenna

currently listening to (over and over) : run - leona lewis [i also love the original snow patrol version, but am just in the mood for leona right now i guess :)]

* reason to be cheerful 14 *

wow!!! i am such a slacker with this! my apologies for being missing for so long! (nearly a month now eeek) things have been so hectic with school so i have been paying attention to that instead of being cheerful!

so much has gone on since my last post...i don't even think i can remember it all!

BUT my reason to be cheerful today is that i submitted my very last assignment of the semester today so i only have 3 exams standing between me and christmas break!

i plan on doing a lot of reading (novels - not text books!!!!!) over the holiday, working to save up some money and spending loads of time with family and friends! its going to be great!

sorry its such a short post but now that i will have some time on my hands i will be looking on the bright side a lot more often! :)

currently listening to - poker face by lady ga ga

* reason to be cheerful 13 *

my reason to be cheerful today is CUPCAKES!

after a talk with my good friend rola about cupcakes we decided that in a perfect world we would love to be the owners of a cupcake bakery/cafe....good idea right? well anyways being my procrastinating self i have been looking up recipies for cupcakes ever since and can't wait to try some! as of right now however i am a busy bee with my two 10 page papers that are due next week (eeeek!) i'm not so cheerful about them, but then i think of cupcakes and i smile!

i love these ones becaue they remind me of cath kidston a lot! and i love love love cath!

ta ta for now! xoxo

this is a picture i made on picnik today after i finished an assignment and wanted to be creative...nothing special but it makes me smile :)

currently listeing to --> MGMT - electric feel & time to pretend are my faves!

* reason to be cheerful 12 *

ok so i actually have FOUR reasons to be cheerful today! isn't that nice? haha!

number ONE -- on friday night i went to a pattern party/kegger with my roomates jenny and meredith and 2 of merediths very nice friends sarah and erin...so we dressed up in as many patters as we could find then went there and drank lots of beer! when we got there jenny and meredith played flip cup which was hilarious! and jenny and sarah were sneaking other booze haha so funny! afterwards we went downtown and managed to meet up with some of mine and jennys friends from first year who we hadn't seen in over 2 years so that was pretty wicked for me as they were some of my closest friends in first year! so i was verrrry happy that night! oh and we got cookies after haha! woot!

number TWO -- after getting home from being out on friday night i checked my email and saw that i won a contest for my photo editing of a picture for breast cancer awareness month! this was such an awesome surprise for me as sometimes i dont' think that i'm very good at anything at all haha so it was nice to get some recognition from that! so i won a years premium membership to picnik which is where i edit my photos so yay for that! heres the winning photo:

number THREE -- last night i worked until 9:15 then decided it would be a good idea to go the library for a bit to get some work done...whilst in the library my friend robin called and was asking me all kinds of questions and i was just answering but when she hung up i thought that something strage was going on with her, she was just asking what i was up to and made fun of me for being in the library...and then she just pretty much hung up on me...i sent her a text and then she texted me back asking what my favourite floor in the library is....i SHOULD have caught on butttt haha i'm not always the smartest person in the world so i just brushed it off and then all of a sudden i heard laughing behind me and three of my awesome friends from home were standing behind me! they drove all the way from london to surprise me! it was so nice to see them! so we left the library to go to my place and hang out for a bit! it was late so they didn't stay for very long but it was worth it for the surprise for me! haha! heres a photo of us in niagara falls (awesome trip!!) the arrows are pointing to the girls who surprised me! thanks robin, kara and whit!

ok so reason number FOUR -- the girls when they were over were poking fun at me for being the most indecisive person they know! and i'll admit i am -- i have no idea what i'm gonna do with my life and i change my mind every day (sometimes more than once a day actually)! i knew i was like that but it was a bit funny to have them point it out last night....but then after they left it got me thinking....how lucky am i that i have the option to change my mind every five mintues, that i have lots of different things that i can do! that i have the guts to move myself to a different country and try something new...that i can go to more school if i want to! its pretty great that i live in a country that allows me to do that...i guess i'm more appreciative than cheerful about this one! who knows what i'll decide to do but i know once i make a decision i'm gonna give it all i've got to make it happen cuz as my friends pointed out i'm also persistant when i know i want something haha...isn't it nice to have friends who know you better than yourself sometimes!? haha!

currently listening to katy perry -- hot n' cold (very ironic as its about someone who changes their mind constantly - maybe that why i like it so much :P)

* reason to be cheerful 11 *

helloooooooooooooooo!

my reason(s) to be cheerful is the crazy/busy/insane weekend i had! friday night i got together with some old friends whom i used to work with and we went to a hockey game, had some drinks and did end up dancing! heres a photo of the 'family unit' as we called ourselves:

on saturday i went to work and after work i got picked up to babysit my cousins kids joey and elizabeth! we had a lot of fun together, we went to the park, made crafts and watched the incredibles...they are 3 and 2 and they are so sweet! they stay up wayyyy too late in my opinion though...10 o'clock!!! i was about to drop dead by the time they finally got to bed!!

my reason to be cheerful was those 2 previous things but also my cousin had me look after her dog too! his name is max and he is the sweetest kindest dog ever! all he wanted to do is cuddle and everytime i sat down he would sit next to me to protect me...it made me want a dog SO badly! i haven't had a dog since i was in the fourth grade which let me tell you was a lonnnng time ago haha! so anyways i want a lot for my life and i imagine myself in a million different countries doing a million different things...but babysitting/dogsitting made me realize that even if i don't get to do all those things i can be happy (tired all the time but happy haha) with a family and dog...weird eh? i didn't even think i wanted kids, and i still don't know, but i guess i just realized that there are worse things in the life then settling down....i still want to travel and do all those crazy things, but maybe someday i'll be like my cousin - a great mom....hmmm

this is a cockapoo which is the type of dog max is...this one i just a puppy but its so adorable i had to put it up!!!

ok thats it from me! i'll be out of action for a bit cuz i have a million school things to do - midterms and papers galore! sorry in advance for not writing! xoxo

* reason to be cheerful 10 *

ok ok ok i know i've been seriously slacking on my posts so my apologies for those who actually take the time to see what i'm cheerful about! but i will try harder, maybe not a post every day but maybe every other and at the LEAST once a week! school just got so darn busy all of a sudden and i'm working quite a bit as well!

annnnnnyways! my reason to be cheerful today is a lovely bunch of cupcakes that i baked for my 2 friends who are coming to town to hang out with me tonight! they're friends from when i used to work for the Guelph Storm hockey team and we're getting together to go see a game, drink some beers, catch up and then perhaps dance a litte! i'm pretty stoked about it and i can't wait to see them since its been a while since all 3 of us have been together! we used to call ourselves the family unit and its been far too long since we've been united so tonight is the night!

oh reason to be cheerful #2 for the day is my new sweater that i got! for those of your outside of canada it gets darn cold here so this is going to help keep my toasty warm on the trek to school! ok ok i don't trek - i take the bus, but its COLD standing out there!

ok side funny note here: i was just laying out the sweater to take a photo of it and realized that i still had the size sticker on it and i definitley wore that sweater all day yesterday! haha!

*if you can't laugh at yourself who can you laugh at!?

p.s. thats my pretty thrift store mirror! it used to be gold but i painted it white! i LOVE it!

* reason to be cheerful # 9 *

so i've had a few good/bad days since my last post, i found out that i'm not going to go to korea when i had originally planned for it - i was upset at first but now i'm actually ok with it! i'm now planning on applying to teachers colleges and seeing about doing that next year and then going to korea the year after! so thats one reason to be cheerful! i have my heart set on austrailia for college but i'm not sure where i'll get in with my marks being what they are! (i'm hoping to bring them up though so fingers crossed!)

my second reason to be cheerful is that tomorrow is FRIDAY which means i'm going to be heading to Waterloo to partake in the second biggest Oktoberfest (next to the german one of course) in the world! My cousins and I are having a girls night and going to an event hosted by a local radio station (I guess its the most popular one! which means it will be busy i hope!) to dance our little hearts out! I'm very excited for that and also the next -day I'll be heading back home to see my family who I haven't seen for a while so thats going to be fantastic!

my third reason to be cheerful is the sweet cupcake that Rola made for me...even tho we're too far away for me to eat it - it made me smile that she made one for me!

ok folks thats it for now! xoxoxoxo!

* reason to be cheerful # 8 *

so i've been having a fantastic lazy weekend complete with some school work, and vegging out in front of the tv! but i also managed to make myself cheerful with a video i created of one of my favourite poems by E. E. Cummings called 'i carry your heart with me'....it took a long time to find all the photos and edit them but i'm pretty happy with the results!

so anywho thats what i've been up to! a pretty low key week is ahead of me school wise but i am working quite a bit - and next weekend is thanksgiving! i'm so excited to go home and i was pleasently surprised with the news that my friend Jen is coming home from Edmonton for the weekend! So hopefully she'll make some time to see us but I do understand that shes only home for 3 days so we'll see what happens! xoxo!

* reason to be cheerful # 7 *

sorry it has been so long so i posted a reason to be cheerful! it has been a little bit hectic these last few days! i finally have a weekend off and that is a HUGE reason for me to be cheerful! i have two days off (no work or anything!) to catch up on school work and just relax and i'm very excited about that as next weekend is thanksgiving weekend and i want to have as little school work as possible to have to when i'm at home! its going to be a busy weekend next weekend but i will write about that later!

anywho i am also cheerful because i got to go out to the ranch (its a country bar and its so much fun!) with my friends! it had been a while since we had gone out together so it was nice to do that! ok well thats it from me today! xoxo!

* reason to be cheerful # 6 *

day # 4...she noticed!! but heres the thing - she noticed the first night (so she says haha!) but she was in such a bad mood she didn't find it funny, and then she didn't say anything cuz she forgot about it...well i guess thats ok since i think i found it funny enough for the both of us! so this conversation started when i asked 'hey jen is that a photo of your grandpa?' -- i know! i know i said i wouldn't say anything but we were sitting in her room chatting and i looked over at that old man smiling at me from the frame and i HAD to say something (those who know me well will know that i did quite well with waiting 3 days!) and she saw right through me and asked if i had been waiting for her to say something and then told me how she noticed since sunday night but was too grouchy to say anything...so anyways my attempt at being a prankster was a success and a failure i was expecting a much bigger reaction from her but we did manage to have a good laugh about it last night which was worth it!

and my reason to be cheerful today is i had greek pita for dinner (its a bit of a strech - but i honestly had the most boring day! other than talking to carola online (for like 3 hours!) all i did was study) tomorrow/friday i'll have more to write about as i'm going out tomorrow night will allison and jenny! woot!

* reason to be cheerful # 5 *

day # 3 -- she STILL hasn't noticed! i even moved it a bit closer to her alarm clock, but nothing!

so today was a little bit of a strech for me to think of something to be cheerful about as it is so cold and pouring rain outside (although i think the sun may make an appearence later). i also have a midterm coming up on thursday which i'm a bit stressed about -- but anyways those aren't cheerful things and i'm focusing on the cheerful so forget all about that!

my reason to be cheerful today is...my underwear! i know i know its a bit strange! but i just did laundry the other day and i chose today as the day to wear my favourite pair of underwear...is this a little bit of an overshare? sorry if it is! but it really IS my reason to be cheerful today! i do work in the lingerie section of a department store so i can explain all the benefits of a good pair of undies but i'll spare you!

my favourite pair of underwear isn't even all that speical, just plain black with some rhinestones at the top, and they fit perfectly! i do feel a bit guilty that i do favour this pair, as i have a drawer full of other perfectly good underwear, but theres something about the way i feel in these ones - i think its just simply ... comfort! i kind of feel this same guilt when i hang my favourite shirts on my best hangers...but hey they deserve a little bit of special treatment right?

currently listening to -- coldplay - violet hill
also enjoying -- the smell of my roommates baking!

* reason to be cheerful # 4 *

day #2 -- jenny still hasn't noticed the new addition to her room!


so my reason to be cheeful today is actually a result of watching the season premier of one of my favourite shows 'brothers and sisters' last night! its a great show for those of you who don't know it! its a show about a family called the walkers and all their many (dad cheated, and a daughter resulted, but wait shes not actually his daughter his mistress lied, and there may actually be a son out there from another mistress!!! drama!!!) anyways one of the many reasons i love it is the youngest brother justin. hes played by this great actor named dave annable and if i'm being honest i have a huge crush!





thats all i've got for now! i've got a busy day with school and work!


currently listening to: the white stripes - my doorbell (check it out!)

* reason to be cheerful # 3 *

hahahahahaha ok....so todays reason to be cheerful was created by myself...i'm not normally a practical joke-ster but when flipping through and old bunch of pictures i had cut out a magazine i found a hilarious picture of an old man with no teeth and i had a BRILLIANT brain storm!

my roommate jenny is a funny, smart and pretty girl, she however has no time to do the "little things"...case in point -- a photo frame that was given to her probably more then a year ago that is sitting on her beside table with the photo it comes with! its actually a really sweet photo frame that says 'friends' on it and as such should have a photo of friends in it, right? haha! well jenny is a busy girl as shes in teachers college and also works at home a lot so i'm sure she just hasn't gotten around to putting a photo in the frame! well myself being the 'not so busy, always looking to smile girl' decided that i would do a little experiment...i took this picture i had cut out of this old dude and put it into said 'friends' frame and put it back on jennys bed side table...

now i'm not the best at keeping secrets and i usually would say something if she didn't notice right away but for the purpose of this blog i will have a day count to see how long it takes jenny to figure out that thes a new photo in the frame....i have a feeling it won't take that long as the frame is right beside her alarm clock, but this is jenny we're talking about so we'll have to wait and see! so anyways she gets home tonight and the countdown will commence!

do you think she'll noctice? hehe!

* reason to be cheerful # 2.5 *

so i guess i'm a cheerful girl today since i have something else thats making me smile...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRX5kH6IrkY

i just love their dance moves! and the song while it is quite simple is really catchy! you might also recognize it from the new saturn commercial! seriously...stuck in your head ALL day!!! haha!

* reason to be cheerful # 2 *

so despite it being a rainy horrible day here in ontario i have managed to find another reason to be cheerful! after working my 'not so cheerful' retail job i was wandering around the mall picking up a few odds and ends when i stumbled acrosssss......a new BEN & JERRYS!

now being from canada ben & jerrys isn't a chain you see often so to have one so close is both fantasic and dangerous (for my waist-line!). it brought back some england memories as not only did i eat it for pudding (desert for us north americans!) every friday on 'pasta night' with the incredible family i worked for - but i also enjoyed it on the weekends in london with my friends. i'm surprised i'm not the size of a boat yet! my love of ice cream is a bit unhealthy! hehe! anyways i didn't even get any ice cream because i was all by myself, and i wanted to share the joy with another person...so i'll wait until my roommate can go with me because as i understand she might have a bigger love of ice cream than me - we'll have to see about that! xoxo!

* reason to be cheerful # 1 *

sooo this is my first time blogging and in of itself i think its a reason to be cheerful! its my intent to have this blog be my outlet for all things that make me smile, giggle, and laugh out loud...so basically all things cheerful!well...i think that my 'reason to be cheerful #1' needs to go to my friend carola! we met 2 years ago (can you believe it rola?) in england where we both au pairing. we didn't exaaaaactly hit if off right away ;) ...she thought i was a bit strange! but it was just a misunderstanding...me trying to be an over-achiever and her trying to understand why i wouldn't leave the kids to play by themselves! haha! but after a little bit of time we managed to become GREAT friends!

we had an amazing time in that year we spent together along with our friend ditte (miss you too ditte)! and especially our trips to paris, demark, germany and the awesome times in london/epping/buckhurst hill and harlow (haha)! but the true test of a friendship is the effort put in after you move back to your respective homes (hers being germany and mine being canada) and our friendship has stayed strong despite different countries and different time zones! our shared love of clothes and pretty things gives us endless things to talk about! rola you've been such a great friend and i hope that we continue this great friendship for much longer!! muah! xoxo