Is this my life?

I catch myself saying that a lot lately. It's been amazing to actually have free time and not constantly be running from one place to another or chasing teams down. Since basketball doesn't start practice until next Monday I haven't even had to realy worry about anything athletic...aside from setting some time away each day to do rehabs (assuming anyone shows up). I've been home pretty much every day by 5, I've been able to go workout in the evenings if I so choose, and I've actally been able to have some simbalance of a social life on says that aren't Sunday. It's crazy! I have really been enjoying teaching which is actually a pretty big change from when I taught at PBA. Don't get me wrong, I liked it well enough there, but I never felt as effective or passionate about it as I knew I could be. I never had time to actually prepare for my classes so my lectures were really just me reading off the slides that came with the text...not exciting at all. Now since I prepped the classes myself and have time to re-review the material before walking into lecture, I can actually enjoy the experience of being in front of the class, not just giving the necessary information, but sharing my experiences and the experiences of others I know and have worked with. I feel like I'm coming from a much different place than ever before. I certainly don't have it all figured out and I'm sure once things get going with the team I'll go just a touch crazy, but for now it's all good. I'm starting to develop relationships with my students and athletes which always makes me happy.

The weather in Jackson has been amazing. I've been in awe when I go outside and even thought it's warm out still there is sometihng about the very slight "chill" you can just barely feel in the breeze. It's like fall is just right there...waiting to take over. Now at 6 am and 10pm when the sun's not out and I'm walking around with the dogs...then it's chilly for this former south Floridian...but I'm excited for it. I do need to figure out though if I need to do something for my girls so their paws don't get all messed up walking around on the cold ground....or do they just deal with it?

Holly had her baby this week. Little Lillian Noelle Hill has finally graced the world with her presence and from the pictures I've seen she's pretty dang beautiful. I can only think of 2 or 3 more amazingly gorgeous infants....but I'm kinda biased to them. ;) By all accounts Holly is doing well and Greg is absolutely smitten. I cannot wait to visit in October and see the little one I prayed so hard for last winter. It's hard being away from my friends with all the excitement going on, but I know they know that I am where God wants me. I do pray Hol and I get to work together again some day...I'm trying to convince her that she and Greg would LOVE Jackson!

I am in the process of planning a trip to Florida in October to meet Lilly and to go to Disney with my family. I'm going to fly down on Thursday to Orlando and go to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party that night with my family. Probably do Disney most of the day on Friday and head to WPB that late afternoon. I'll spend that night with Hol and Greg (assuming that's still cool) and the next morning as well. The men's soccer team has a game that Saturday afternoon so I'll probably stay for that and then head back to Disney for more family time before flying back to TN on Sunday. It's going to be a whirlwind trip...but that's how most of my travels are.

So all in all things are good. I'm still on the hunt for a church. There are bits I like of all 3 I've visited, but none of them seem like "home". I'll find the right one soon I hope! You can be praying for that.

Ok that's all. I'll try to update again soon....

~Jen

Hello Jackson!

I have officially been in my apartment in Jackson for 1 week! This is nuts. I can't realy explain the mental gymnastics I'm going through. It's really weird..I feel like I'm waiting to see my old kids at PBA, and work with my best friend, and deal with all the drama that I only have to hear about now. In some ways I miss my "old life," but at the same time I'm so excited about my new path. Starting over, again, isn't really scary for me. Maybe that's partly because I'm comfortable on my own. It's funny (kind of, and yet a little frustrating) to hear what some people from back in WP are saying about me and this transition. I know I can't expect them to understand necessarily, but is it really too much at as to be supportive and to just believe me when I say that I'm just trying to follow God's plan for me?

Enough of that. So, I'm in Jackson. In my 1 bedroom apartment (which is larger than my place in WP) with my 2 little girls. "My girls" are two mini-schnauzers Zoe and Hannah. Both are rescue puppies..well they're 3 but they still act like babies. Zoe has been living with my mom and dad for the past year or so, she was abandoned on the side of the road by my aunts horse farm. She is a super sweet, super soft, little love. Then there's Hannah. Hannah was rescued from a puppy mill in Mississippi about a month ago. I adopted her through UnderDogs Rescue, a great local dog rescue in Ft. Walton. Hannah is white to the point of looking pink. She is so playful, a bit hyper and "barky", and very intent are reclaiming her lost puppyhood. She definitely tries my patience a bit, but still sooooo sweet. She doesn't understand kids, and the first time she saw a TV she was totally lost. She's definitely a little baby, such a love.

Classes start at Union on Tuesday. I'm teaching 3 classes this fall and I'm really not prepared for any of them! I'll get there...Just have to take it one day at a time. I'll be teaching Lower Extremity Evaluation, Care and Prevention of Athletic Injuries, and Clinical V which is basically a therapeutic exercise review and competency class. I've never taught any of these courses, but thankfully they have old syllabi and power points for me to reference. Of course I'm basically rewriting the lectures, but at least there's a jumping off point!

Ok so that's all for now. Maybe I'll update you again while it's still August! ;)

Home

So I've been home for just over a week now and I keep waiting for "post-project depression" to hit and it just isn't happening. I imagine that should be a positive thing. hahaha. I think the main reason I'm coping so well is that I went straight from one abnormal living arrangement to another (yes, at 28 and after 10 years away being in my parent's house for an extended period of time is abnormal). Add to that realizing that I will not actually ever be in what I'm used to as "normal" since my next stop is a short visit in WPB, followed by a couple days in Otown for a wedding I cannot wait for (cutest dress ever!), then it'll be time to load up and move to Jackson. Yes, "I'm going to Jackson"...I've had that song sung to me so many times.... I've spent the past week trying to figure out all those things that one has to figure out for a move such as this. For instance... I either sold or donated ALL of my furniture. Well almost all of my furniture. All I kept was a white desk and and Ikea butcher block corner unit thingy w/ 2 stools. So basically all the comfortable stuff...yay, don't have it. Or I should say didn't have it. Since getting home last week I've purchased a beautiful Ashley bedroom set. Queen, 4 poster bed with mattress and box spring, side table and dresser w/ mirror. It's gorgeous!!! Then I bought an Ashley living room set (these are 2 seperate purchases from different people/places). It's a great light green couch, chair and ottoman. I'm really happy with what I have an cannot wait to see my new apartment and get it all set up. How weird is it that in just a couple weeks I'll be starting a whole new chapter of my life. I feel like I'm just killing time right now in Pensacola, and I guess technically that's what I'm doing. But it has been so nice to spend some real chill time with my family. Especially since everyone is in the P'cola area. I even got to see a few great friends this past weekend which was a suprise, but very welcome, and I get to see some more this coming week. God is so good, and He has blessed me so much! I cannot wait to get on with this new path He's set my feet too. It's so funny to me looking back at what my life could be like right now if I hadn't set my mind to follow His plan instead of my own. I have ZERO doubt that I would be MISERABLE right now. And yet, I'm filled with ancitipation and excitement for my new adventure. Of course I miss my friends in WP. But I know that the ones that really matter will be a part of me always.

The students are entering into their last week on project in Colorado. It's weird having no idea what they've been dealing with or how God's been working. I am looking forward to getting a full report!!! Keep praying that they are just totally rocked by God this last week...it'll be so cool to hear the stories!!

Alright friends, time to go get more work done. Have a great night!

Yes, yes...I'm alive

I know, I'm sorry. It's been forever since I posted anything. To be fair though I did write a post last week, but I wrote it in word and for some reason my computer wont let me copy and paste it into the blog field (if you have any hints on how to make that happen I'd love to post what I wrote..but I'm not going to rewrite it).

Life in the house continues to be absolutely crazy! I feel like I have something to do or someone to meet with or talk to like every hour of the day. It's been an amazing experience and I've had a ton of fun, but I am definitely beginning to feel a little worn down. I'm trying to throw myself fully into this last week and enjoy every last opportunity I have to get to know our students and staff and just enjoy sharing life together. I really enjoy the community hear and surprisingly (for me) I haven't gotten overly frustrated with the apparent lack of alone time...especially since I am sharing my room. Major accomplishment for me!! YAY!! hahaha. But in all seriousness I booked my flight home to Pensacola, I'll be flying in on the 15th and I'm super excited. Can't wait to spend some time with the fam and live in a house with AC!! ;)

For those of you who haven't heard yet I have accepted a faculty position as an assistant professor at Union University. I start on August 16th. Today I secured an apartment and I'm planning on moving up that way around the 12th. This is really happening and it's just CRAZY!! I'm very excited for this new adventure God has me on, though I have to admit it's not what I expected when He called me to leave PBA. It will certainly be interesting...

Speaking of jobs, last night we gave our project students thier "jobs" for the 3 weeks they are here after the staff leaves. See they will actually live here and run project without any AIA staff or interns here to help them or lead them. It's a great opportunity for them to stretch and to grow. I haven't had an opportunity yet today to talk with any of them about their jobs so I'm excited to go to dinner and process some of this with them. I can't wait to hear what they get up to after we leave (which brings up another rule...we can't have any contact with the students between the day we leave the house and the day the students pack up and leave...that's 3 weeks). I'm sure they will have some interesting stories to share!

Alrighty, time to go and vedge out for a bit before dinner. I hope all are doing well!!

~Loves!!!

Oh..PS...I get my hair cut tomorrow...I'll try to remember to post pics!

I know, I know....bad Jen....

Ok so it's been like a week since I last updated you on my life here in Colorado. It's just been such a good, but crazy week I haven't had a moment to think, let alone type a blog post. ;) So here I am, 3 weeks in to my 6 weeks stay....man it's gone fast!! Last week we had the SPECIAL which is literally one of the most amazing events to watch. SPECIAL stands for Spiritual Principles + Exhaustion = Confidence in Almighty Lord. Self-explanatory right? Ok maybe not. So essentially from 6 pm on Friday to around 1 pm on Saturday the athletes on the Colorado Project compete in different athletic events, with only short breaks for transition periods or for Gospel presentations and prayer. I say this is an amazing event because in no other arena in my life at least have I been able to witness God working and moving in such a powerful way in so many peoples lives at the same time. This is the 3rd SPECIAL I've "worked" and while it was very different from the past 2 years, it was still amazing. Students really learned what it means to rely on God for thier strength in a very practicle way and many met Him in a new and different way.

Here are some pics....

Nothing like men who pray....

2010 Colorado Project Staff Team

Golgotha.....

Cross Country team relay

Pull up station.....The worst stop on the obstacle course!!!

Our Awesome 2010 Students

sharing life

Since I have now been in Fort Collins, CO for almost 2 full weeks I thought it was about time to share some pictures to give you an idea of where I've been living and working since May 26th...

This is my house! It was originally an AXO sorority house, but now it is a Christian living house. AIA rents it for the summer just for Project. We currently have 17 girls, 9 boys, and 10 single staff/interns living in the house. The first floor is all general living space...living room, meeting room, kitchen, dining room. 2nd floor is for the girls, 3rd is for the boys, and the basement is our staff meeting room, game room, prayer room, laundry room, and bike storage.

The picture on the Left is our meeting room.

The picture on the Right is that same room during an impromptu dance party with our students.

This is a bit of the prayer room...

And this is the Prayer and Praise Grafitti Wall I built in the Prayer Room.....

So those are just a few pictures of the house to hoepfully give you an idea of what it's like. I promise I'll post more pics from the labs and SPECIAL this week...but probably not until next week.

Taking a Break

If you know me at all you probably know that I require lots of alone time to just sit and process...or to just be alone. There's not a lot of that in the Project house and there will be even less of that now that the students arrive today. Colby, our project director, is great at reminding us to take some time for ourselves to do quiet times and recharge our batteries...problem is I'm not great at taking that time, even though I know I need it. In the moment I usually think I'm fine...it's not until a day or two later that I start to get irritable because I haven't been able to escape at all. I need to be more assertive at laying claim to my alone time, and not feel bad about doing something that I need and that makes me a nicer person when I do "go back to reality."

So that's actually what I'm doing right now. All my actual jobs are done for today and we are in the middle of "git'er done time" which is basically just free time to finish up last minute things before students arrive. I did what I needed to do and now I'm sitting here, ALONE, sharing my thoughts with you people and just chilling out. I love just sitting and listening to music, being still. I'm still working on taking the contentment I have in those moments and carrying them over into my actual quiet times with God...instead of making my times of study and prayer just check marks on my days. Practice makes perfect right.

For those of you that are following my current career...path, leap, confusion...here's a brief update. I am not moving to Ohio. I had thought for sure for about a month that God was leading me to move up that way and take a job at a Christan school that is very near AIA head quarters...but in the end He shut that door. (BTW..something I'm working on this summer is to stop trying to predict God's plan for me!). So , that was a pretty significant let down. Not that I was especially thrilled to move to somewhere sooooo cold, but I was going to go if that's where God wanted me. I got the call on Tuesday that they filled that position..which made Tuesday a rough day. On Wednesday I got a call from another school I'd applied to and basically had a great, impromptu 40 minute phone interview. They called my references on Thursday, and called me again yesterday to talk about scheduling a time to fly me out to Tennessee for an on campus interview! I'm pretty excited about the opportunity, but I'm trying to remind myself not to get too overly invested and psyched until I figure out if the position is a fit and if that's actually where God wants me. Please keep me in prayer as I'm trying to seek God's will for me. So far He's made it pretty clear that my next season wont be in West Palm, Pensacola, or Ohio...so the search is still on and I'm still trusting in God's provision and guidanve!! :)

Ah, I feel better...yay, alone time!!! Maybe I can go play nice with others now! ;)