yay! i finally figured out how to put a link to lisas blog on my blog!!! shes far behind because she blogs about everything!!!! so i think right now she is only half way through september : ) lol but she has lots of details and she knows how to put pictures in her blog! so read hers if you want to know more about whats going over here in oxford! oh!!!!!!!!!! i am SO SO SO happy because we just got an email saying we dont have to do the stage for our tutorial that is due wednesday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! yay!!!!!!!!!! : ] so now i can just listen to music and do nothing and not feel guilty about it! love ya!!! ~jen

ps-i think some of the pictures from our halloween party are on my website!!! aka the ones where me and lisa and sarah were "bobbies"/police officers : )

I thought about calling you when I got off the plane
Everytime I see this city through the clouds I get that way
Call me crazy for missing you like this but I do
By now I figured you had all your numbers changed
It's been at least a year since I called you up to say
We need to talk I got this job and I think I'm gonna take it
Cause I've been waiting all my life for a break like this
It's my chance of a lifetime I just know it is
I gotta go and find these dreams was the last thing that I said
And then I did
I can see clear to the mountains as I head up our old street
I remember how we'd call in sick on days like these
And turn the music up, roll the windows down and just drive
You talked me out of giving up on myself so many times
Convinced me to get it in while I could
Regrets hang heavy on my mind but you never doubted me
You kept pushing me
Saying you've been waiting all your life for a break like this
It's your chance of a lifetime you just know it is
You gotta go and find your dreams was the last thing that you said
And then I did
But you were wrong
Love was what I wanted all along
-Then I Did, Rascal Flatts

sigh. well tonight was wonderful!! God is so faithful!!! nine at nine turned out to be amazing despite the fact that we only met once. we sang songs from psalms and we put 100 tealight candles on the center table in the shape of the cross and turned out the lights : ) its was so fabulous!!! ...i cried... that means it was good : ) so i really should be studying for oxford through the ages... but of course im not... i think im going to go call mi familia. i have been promising to call for the past week... yikes!!!!! love ya! ~jen

so our halloween party is officially over. it was quite fun! and let me say me and lisa and sarah were looking SO hot in our police officer costumes! : ) well technically we were "bobbies" lol. but nevertheless we were WAY cute! i wish i knew how to put pictures on here... guess you will just have to ask me to see them! so we ate candy and colored pumpkins and had a halloween parade down north parade. it was fun : ) then we watched sleepy hollow and i was very disappointed because i didnt get scared... i was actually looking forward to it! but it was pretty much just dumb. then we watched some snl and then i decided i should probably eat something since i havent actually had a meal all day(a first for me in a LONG time!) but i ended up in here on the computer... and i am thinking that the most i will eat tonight is some digestives(cookies with chocolate on one side)... so bad but im so tired! and i have lots to do tomorrow that i really dont want to do! like get up and go to church and study for my oxford through the ages test and plan nine at nine worship for tomorrow night(all of which i must do tomorrow and would want to do if only i didnt have to do them tomorrow). i think i have finally reached my limit of being social 24/7. everywhere i go there are people and normally i prefer that but after two months.... well one can only take so much. its not bad, im just starting to cherish moments by myself a lot more than usual. anyways i almost thought i had ruined my night but then i talked to carino and she saved the day! ....errr night!! sigh. dont you just hate it when you are talking to someone on aim and you really wish you werent but it would be rude if you didnt, and on top of that you really wish you were talking to someone else on aim but they arent actually there? well i certainly do. so i think i will go eat something... or maybe just crawl into bed... love ya!!! ~jen

hey kids! so our halloween party is tonight and im pretty excited! i tried on my costume last night while sarah read old testament to me : ) lol nice huh? so in a few minutes me and lisa and lael and caryn are going to the covered market to get some pumpkins for carving! and maybe some candy : ) oh and i need to buy some birthday cards, like five!!! im so sad i am missing so many birthdays!!!!!! so i have nothing else to write about... went to class, ate some plums and kiwis that were so so good and slept for about an hour and a half. gtg! ~jen

hey! so we went to london today. i was so depressed! it was all so boring and it was such a long day! all we did was go to the british museum and then to parliament(where our tour guide almost fainted! she was an old lady, it was a little sad and a little scary and a little funny...) but then we went to the texas embassy after dinner and that made the whole day MUCH better! me and sarah and lisa were planning on watching moulin rouge but a group already claimed the tv to watch anne of avonlea... so now im really bored and think i might join sarah in doing homework! yuck!! on a friday night!!! double yuck! sorry i havent blogged much of anything interesting lately... not much has been going on really... oh but me and lisa and sarah bought something for our costumes for the halloween party tomorrow night!! i cant tell you what it is bc people here read this and our costumes are supposed to be a surprise! but we sure are going to be cute!! : ) so i guess i will go eat something, thats usually what i do when i get bored... bad habit!!! love ya! ~jen

hey! so me and lisa are about to go running!! i am actually exercising! yay for me!! hopefully this will not be a one time thing lol. so i finished my third book last night! it was SO good! i only have the last book to read now but i have decided that im going to be responsible and read my book for oxford through the ages... even though i really dont want to... but i am! so me and lisa must leave now! : ) love ya! ~jen

hi everybody! me and sarah and lisa just got back from our "night out" : ) it was quite fun!! we went to eat at the mitre(a pub) and then we got ice cream at g&d's. we were laughing the whole time!!! oh geez. i wish we could have nights like tonight every night!! it was just so much fun! and we didnt have to worry about homework or about anything else we should have been doing, because there was nothing we had to do! : ) so anyways tomorrow we are having an "alice in wonderland" walk outside oxford and then we get free dessert and coffee at the trout(a restaurant). then on friday we are going to london! one of my favorite places in the world! we are going to see parliament and westminster abbey and then we get the afternoon to ourselves. so sarah has to go to the american embassy because of her social security card and then we are having dinner in london... and me and lisa think we should go to the texas embassy... again! lol its SO yummy!!! but sarah insists we go to a different place... we will have to see about that. lets see... i got a letter in the mail yesterday from my grandma!! she is SO sweet!! i miss seeing her every sunday! and eating her delicious cooking!!!!!!!! oh i have to start making a list of what i want for my birthday and christmas! i started thinking about a few things the other day, a new blowdryer and some new perfume are at the top of my list right now lol thats so boring... i will have to think harder : ) well i think im going to go read my amazing book(the third shopaholic book--shopaholic ties the knot) and listen to music, probably nat king cole or tj mccloud or celine dion : ) love ya! ~jen

oh man!! i just found out that one of my good friends from high school is engaged!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and i cant even talk to her til i get back bc all i have is her cell phone number! its just so crazy!!!!!!!!!!!! gosh it feels like everyone around me is getting engaged or married or having kids!!!! and all that is making me realize how much i really do want to get married and everything but also how much i am SO not ready for all that right now!!! i mean i just got over my dislike of doing dishes... lol but that is good news to share--i dont mind doing dishes anymore, they used to gross me out. anyways so yeah... my friend is engaged. and i think this is the first half way serious entry i have written since being here. so there you have it, finally something personal from the mind of jennifer. gtg do homework! love ya!! ~jen

i just got back from austria!!! well actually i just got back from nine at nine, and we got back from austria right before nine at nine. tonight we just shared stories about our travels over the past two weeks and prayed and sang songs. so our austria trip was... fun and relaxing and i liked it alot!! it was also way crazy on so many different levels! to start, we missed our train thursday morning out of oxford. we thought we were going to have to buy new tickets and that we were going to miss our flight out of stansted. but we didnt! it was amazing!!! a man at the train station told us which train to get on and when we got off that train, we stepped right onto the next train that took us to london paddington, and then from that we took the subway to the other side of london(and our train tickets worked for the subway!) and then we got off the subway and took another train to stansted(which we barely caught), where we went to our gate, with like twenty minutes to spare. then we had a two hour flight to austria where i completely finished the book(shopaholic abroad, the sequel to the last book i read) that was supposed to last me til the train back to oxford... you would think i know that i read fast and that i would bring another book with me... whatever. so we got to austria and went through passport control and then we got our luggage. then the airport took us to the train station for free and it was absolutely deserted. so we took the train to salzburg which was about an hour and a half. on the train sarah and courtney talked to a nice older lady and a nice older man and the man said he would take us to the bus station. and when we got off the train the lady said we had to meet her husband bc he was the assistant director for the sound of music!! so we definitely got a picture! then the man took us to the bus stop and said he would meet us when we got off the bus so he could take us to our hostel. so while we were on the bus a guy came over and asked if we needed a hostel and we told him where we were staying and he said he was staying there too and that he would take us to it. so we met the old man at our stop and told him this other guy would take us. so then we got to our hostel and checked in and then we went to dinner. and it was SO SO good!!! i had chicken cordon blue and then for dessert i had chocolate cake! yum yum! then we went back to the hostel and me and courtney grabbed some snacks and we went downstairs and talked and laughed. then the next day sarah travis caryn and brent went on the sound of music tour while me coutrney and bethann slept and got ready. then we ate lunch at the hostel which was really good. then we went on the sound of music tour which was cool. oh but heres the beginning of our crazy story: the tour company picked us up from the hostel and then the guy said we had to pick up some other people as well. so we did. it was a family of four, mom dad and seven year old twin girls. so we went on the tour and the family sat behind us. and we talked to them kind of alot. then after the tour we met the others and went to dinner. and it was SO SO SO good!!!!!!!! i got grilled chicken with fresh vegetables and rice and me and courtney split potato and bacon soup. i have never had a meal so wonderful!!!!!!! then me and courtney split a chocolate cake that had lots of chocolate syrup and fruit!!!!!! and then brent bethann travis me and courtney got a raspberry souffle to split and it almost made me puke!!! i had half a bite and that was it, its so wet.... yuck! bethann called it calf slobber... DISGUSTING!!!!! then we went back to the hostel and me and courtney stayed downstairs again and laughed and laughed. so heres a funny story: we went to the bar to order hot chocolate and i thought i would see if i could get something close to a mocha frappucino. so i asked the guy if i could get coffee with something mocha and he goes "mocha?" and i was like "yeah mocha" so he was like "no we dont have mocha coffee... umm i dont really know what youre talking about..." and so i was like "no no its ok" and he turns around and picks up a chocolate bar that says "milka" on it and asks me if that is what i want. lol me and courtney started cracking up!!! and i could hardly squeak out a no. so we had our late night chat and then we went to bed. then the next morning sarah travis brent and caryn went on some cable car ride up a mountain. me courtney and beth ann again slept later and got ready and then we went into town to get some lunch and go shopping : ) well heres more of the crazy story: we ran into the family from the tour again! they were having cappucinos and muffins at a little cafe on the side of the street. so we went over and said hi and the dad invited us to sit with them and have coffee and muffins also. we politely refused but he insisted so we sat. and talked. and learned they are loaded! they were talking about their trips to spain and kenya and how they stayed at the plaza when they went to new york... as if all this was ordinary! but they are so nice and generous! then after we had ice cream and hot chocolate, we were going to go eat lunch when they invited us to have lunch with them!!!! we again said it was quite alright but they insisted! so we had a free lunch! it was the best pizza ive had since in europe! and they ordered garlic bread for all of us to share, which was made with real garlic! and when it came out hannah, one of the twins, reached for a piece and her dad told her that "her friends" should go first. and of course we said it was completely fine for her to take a piece(i mean shes only seven!) but he told us that they teach their children that guests always get the first and the best. he said that you treat your best friends like family and if you dont treat them like family then they are only acquaintances. isnt that so sweet?!?! i mean its true, but its also really sweet!! so yeah we had a great lunch and they told us all about themselves. the mom is from egypt and teaches the girls arabic and the dad is from england and they live in london. and they have two sons, one is 32 and the other is 29. the dad hunts pheasants and they have traveled all over the world and eaten millions of types of meats(like giraffe and crocodile and frog and camel!--the girls told us camel was good, that it tasted like lamb but that giraffe was quite chewy(all in a cute little british accent!!) oh and they say horrid! lol) but then a little bit after we were finished eating bethann started feeling sick so we had to leave and they asked if we would like them to call a taxi and said we would be fine. and then the dad gave us his business card and told us to call if we needed anything for the rest of our trip in salzburg and to call them if we were ever in london!! courtney swears they said we could stay at their house! so yeah that was really cool! so we went back to the hostel and made sure bethann was ok staying there by herself and then me and courtney went out again. we walked around a little bit then had dessert at this little cafe. then we went to a candy store and bought real austrian chocolate. oh and we also went into hermes... oh how i wish i could have bought something! then here is the rest of our crazy story: we ran into hannah and her dad!!!!! insane! they were out shopping for boots : ) so we talked for a few minutes and told them bethann was ok and joked that we might run into each other yet again before our flight out the next day. so then we went to the mirabell gardens and to this terrace that is from the sound of music. it was all really pretty! but a funny story: we had to take an elevator up to the terrace. so we get on the elevator from one side and then when we got to the top we got out on the opposite side. ok so all is cool. well on the way back down we got on and i walked straight to the opposite side and leaned against the "wall." well the doors/my wall opened and i almost fell flat on my face!!! lol it was really funny, me and courtney were laughing so hard after that! : ) so then we went back to the hostel to meet everyone for dinner and to check on bethann. we ended up eating at a pizza and pasta place. i had penne with pasta sauce, cream of broccoli soup and breadsticks with garlic! oh and chocolate mousse for dessert!!!!!!! it was so good!!! then when we got back bethann joined me and courtney in our late night chat in the lobby of the hostel. we had a good time telling stories and laughing. then sunday we pretty much traveled the whole day... yuck! me and courtney had some amazing chinese food. i hate chinese food by the way. lol but i had beef and broccoli and white rice. and i finished off courtneys cashew beef : ) then we had nine at nine and thats about it. oh, so while we were in the airport, me and courtney listened to courtneys ipod. here are a few of the songs that got stuck in my head because of that : )

take my hand, take my whole life too
for i cant help falling in love with you -elvis

there will never be a minute of the day
i wont think of you
my feelings are so strong inside
i feel it through and through
there will never be a night thats so dark
that we wont shine
or a dream that we lost that we cant find
youll always be the one for me
i think of you from time to time and in between -rascal flatts

tell me that you live for love
that forever is never enough
that youve waited all your life to see
that you want so badly to believe
tell me that its not just me -rascal flatts

when i saw my reflection in her eyes
thats when i knew that it was time
and i leaned over and kissed her cheek
and softly whispered my goodbyes
against the glass i heaved a sigh
followed the fading of its lights
watched the plane begin its flight
with my eyes into the night
and with miles between us
how could love have seen us
and given us this chance
and i hear it whisper
could you not have kissed her
and shown her youre man
who wants nothing more in life
than for her to be your wife
and i know that im a coward
who couldnt even tell her
as she begged me with those eyes
give her a reason not to fly
and it haunts me on the highway
heading back to my place
singing why why oh why
and with miles between us
how could love have seen us
and given us this chance
and i hear it whisper
could you not have kissed her
and shown her youre man
who wants nothing more in life
than for her to be your wife -tj mccloud

i just got back from spain!!!!! : ) it was a really fun trip, except for a few rough parts. it was just me, sarah, kristin and denyce(who was a life saver because she is fluent in spanish!) so im in oxford tonight and tomorrow and then im leaving for austria early thursday morning : ) some people say im crazy for traveling again so soon but i figure im in europe and i might as well do as much as i can! : ) supposedly we are going on the sound of music tour and on a salt mine tour, where you get to slide down in a rubber suit lol the sound of music tour i couldnt care less about but im sure it will be fun. well i need to figure out my schedule and get my laundry... i will have to write about spain later... love ya! ~jen

alright so we went to eat dinner at eagle and child because lisas sister is here, they are going to scotland tomorrow. it was really good! and then we went to g&d's which was AMAZING as always! and then we went to borders and i bought a magazine for when we are traveling in spain this week. we leave wednesday morning at 5am!!!! ahhhhhh!!!! so early!!! but we are going to SPAIN!!!!! i think it will be a blast! we are going to barcelona first and then to granada and then to jerez, and its all near the coast!!!!! so im going to be swimming in the mediterranean sea this week!!!!!!!!!! how cool is that!?!?!? so tomorrow i dont have any classes and all i have to do is pack and buy some bottled water for the trip. so i think im going to go read my magazine and maybe my new book too! : ) next time i update will be after spain!!! : ) ~jen

so last night we watched the importance of being earnest, it was great! and then we had a dance party!!! for TWO hours!! it was so much fun!!! : ) then today i did alot of stuff on my "to do" list which made me feel alot better. and then me and lisa and sarah baked a huge cake because we had to bring the dessert for the dinner party we were having with brent, kelly, josh, susan and kathryn in house 10. kelly cooked minestrone soup and pizza--IT WAS SO SO SO GOOD!!!!!!!!!! and our cake was so fabulous!!!!!!!!!! i had four and a half pieces!!!!!!!!!!!!! hence hannah calls me the "garbage disposal" : ) so after dinner me and sarah went to borders because they are having a sale. i LOVE going to bookstores!! and i LOVE to read!!!!!!! so i wanted to buy every book that i picked up! but i ended up with only one-the secret dreamworld of a shopaholic : ) so i got twenty percent off because im a student and on top of that i got a free bar of chocolate!!! : ) yay for me! and when we got back we watched ten things i hate about you, its so cute!! and now im in the lab talking to kristin and stuff : ) i promise i wasnt distracted matt (hoffman)!!! well i should go to sleep... but me and kristin are "bonding" but im thinking all this will have to wait til our trip to spain(yay!) : ) ~jen

well me and sarah are going to belgium the first weekend in november and i am SO excited!! and the day after we get back from spain i am going to austria with sarah i, travis, beth ann, caryn and courtney. so all this traveling and planning is getting so old... my bank account is draining ever faster!! but im going to go to as many places as i can while im here : ) so i think i need to go read a book and get a cup of tea. i have had too much stress over the past few days, like the most ive had since the end of last semester. and i dont think im handling it extremely well. and there are so many things that are stressing me out right now that i cant do anything about, like my schedule... im STILL waiting for my advisor and stephanie from the honors office to email me back, and i cant do anything about my schedule til they do. plus im waiting to book the hostel for austria until the hostel lady emails beth ann back. so thats on hold too. theres so much more i have to do, that i cant do yet for various reasons, that i cant and dont want to think of right now.... ugghhh. i think im going to go watch the importance of being earnest with some of the girls. so yeah... me and lisa are talking about the stuff thats going on with pledging. yikes. well guess ill go... love ya! ~jen

so today i did just about nothing... old testament, oxford through the ages, sainsburys for groceries, ate some lunch, and then i took a four hour nap : ) then i woke up and ate dinner and now i am here on the computer. me and sarah are trying to figure out where we are going for the next long weekend, which is right after we get back from spain. we get back from spain, have two days of class and then its a long weekend for travel. i really want to go to belgium but we are also looking at going to greece... so anyways im feeling really disconnected from the world... its a sucky feeling. like everything is going on back home and im totally missing it. it makes me sad. and i have nine more weeks(tomorrow!!) of this feeling... ok i will stop whining. especially because i really am having a blast here! its going to be so weird going back home and not walking everywhere and not just going downstairs for class and not feeling like im wearing the same clothes all the time and not doubling the prices of everything and not leaving the country every week. sigh. so i guess i will go since i have nothing else to say... ~jen

hi guys! well lets see... what have i not blogged about... friday night me and beth ann watched fever pitch on my laptop in the laundry room while our clothes were in the washer and dryer. it was really cute! then saturday morning we all went to london and then took a boat down the thames to greenwich where the prime meridian is. me and sarah and lisa went to eat at this tex mex place and it was pretty good, of course they didnt know what the heck bean and cheese tacos were... this is getting REALLY old!!! plus we got a pitcher of margarita and it was WAY strong and i totally almost puked! then we went to the maritime museum with the whole group. after me and lisa went through the entire maritime museum listening to beth anns ipod AND the audio guide(a little portable "radio" that tells you about all the stuff in the museum) we got back on the boat and went to london. we got off near tower bridge and bought stuff at the gift shop. then we ate at subway, where i ate a footlong meatball sub, a bag of chips, six cookies and a bottle of water!!!!! im telling you, i have been SO hungry the past few days!!! so then we took the underground to covent garden which is WAY cute!! and we watched the lion king on broadway!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! it was SO SO SO cool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! then we got back home at like 2am. then on sunday i just did some homework and then went to nine at nine, which was really good. it was about God renewing your motivation and helping you persevere. it was cool. then today i had old testament and oxford through the ages. then i ate my burnt pizza... then i did some more homework and went to worship, which has been extended to a full three hours now. i thought i was going to die having to sit there for three hours but it actually went by even faster than usual. so now i need to study for my test tomorrow in wisdom and devotional lit. and eat dinner. and clean off my desk. but instead i am here in the computer lab... go figure. hmmmm probably should go... ttyl ~jen