celebrations

so today i got to celebrate two very fun things.

#1 - i got to throw a little meet and greet party after school today for a co-worker friend of mine (john). he and his wife (celeste) had a baby boy about 6 weeks ago and i ( and other co-workers) wanted to meet the little guy (Quinlan). it was fun to see all the ladies fuzz over the little guy, each taking their turn holding him. When ever 'Q' got a little upset Dad had to take a shot at quieting him down....It was fun to gather and celebrate new life and new parents and all the excitement that it brings.

#2 - this evening i got the chance to celebrate a very long time friends 32nd birthday! this is how he wanted to be posted on my blog. so go ahead, take your guess as to who you think this birthday boy is. we didn't do anything special, just sat around and eat some fun food and had some conversation....and i of course played with little CJ; this birthday boys daughter. Again, go ahead and guess......you can post your guesses on my blog!!!!!!

Let it Snow!

First let me say that I have not blogged since February 11th; that is 14 days! ago Most defiantly a record for me. For those of you that are regular supporters of JoJo's Journeys - sorry it's been so long.

Yesterday (Saturday) was a great day! Nothing major happened, it was just a really good day. I woke up full of energy and cleaned the house, did landry, cleaned out some messy junk drawers, paid some bills- and of course drank many cups of coffee. It just wouldn't be a Saturday with out some coffee. For those of you that wonder why in the world 'cleaning' would make my day great...it is sort of a stress reliever for me; something that I enjoy doing...and it makes my house look nice! so..... After my morning flew bye I showered up and headed out in the snow to do some shopping. Yip - snow fall doesn't scare me. I had some much needed 'Target' shopping to do- ya know, the necessaries: toothpaste, coffee filters, vacuum replacements bags (one of which I looked around for about 1/2 hour), shout it out wipes, a baby gift, a birthday card, a notebook and some pencils. Than off to Menard's....I needed a light to put underneath my cabinet, over my sink so I can see. I wanted to shop for 'fun' stuff...but ran out of time and headed to Northwestern to take in the men's team play in the conference championship game. It was a great game and I highly enjoy watching them play, but unfortunately it ended badly for the 'good' guys and they lost by 2 points in overtime. After that my friend Nate picked me up and off we headed to a Haiti Missions Project Fund Raiser for our friend Jen. That's right...we were not going to let the snow fall and the heaping piles scare us...plus, he has four wheel drive! At this fund raiser we got to take in some extra good live music by Elizabeth Honeycut (hope that is spelled right), took in some good eats and drinks...and chatted. It was well worth it- plus, it always fells good to support a missions project (that is a picture of the shirts all the missions team members had on.) Andrew, myself, Jen (on my lap) and Nate shared in some fun conversation and seemed to enjoy each others company. I have Sara to thank for making these new peeps apart of my friend world. thanks Ms. Sara!

After everyone else had left the missions party we decided we should go too. So out in the snow we went. Piles of it! It was so beautiful!!! Even though it was dark out. I would of highly enjoyed getting into a snow ball fight. Or would have loved to own a snowmobile. Next time I guess. Nate drove us safely back to NWC where my car was waiting. We scrapped of all the snow and off I went. I was not afraid of driving in the snow, but lots of other people were...I am sure they all thought I was crazy as I passed them. I made it safely to my driveway and than 6 feet away from pulling into my garage I got stuck! Yip - STUCK.
So at 11:30 at night I shoveled away the pile of snow you see out from in front of my garage. I actually enjoyed it. There is something weirdly fun and satisfying about shoveling snow. So once I got the car into the garage I went back out and shoveled my whole driveway...and side walk. Which I was glad I did...cuz it snowed alot more during the night and I am sure I would have been stuck IN my garage than. So...there ya have it. A great day!

all grown up!

i love these people. the older i get the more i appreciate people that influenced my life as a teenager. Brent and Becky were the youth pastor(s) at my church in Mora and i remember loving going to youth events cuz of them. they made it fun, and applicable to my life. they made you feel loved and appreciated. they made loving Jesus cool! Brent is the worlds best story teller...he can make you laugh out loud in a second, yet challenge in a way that you've never been challenged before! Becky was a ton of fun as well. i remember her being 'one of the girls' more than an adult figure- someone you felt comfortable with...you could tell anything too. i also babysat there two boys; when they were like 3 and 4 years old!!! Brady (the one with the hat on) is in 9th grade now and that makes me feel so old. i went to his basketball game the other night and was floored at how big he is....and mature! Robbie, his younger brother was off playing hockey that night so didn't get to see him. i love these people, it's that simple. they make you seem like something special when they see you and always wanna hear how life is. they just recently moved back to MN and i am so thankful that they now attend the same church i do, so i get to see them on a regular basis...i love that. anyway- i am so thankful that Brent and Becky were apart of my teen years growing up, and are now apart of my adult life. it is truly a blessing. and i am so excited to watch Brady and Robbie grow up into God loving men! the girls are gonna chase them like crazy, i am sure of it! thanks for everything Brent and Becky!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! you guys rock.

pictures to share.

so i dont have much to share with you as far as words go. nothing new...which i hate. i wish i had fun crazy things to share, but it's day in day out...same old same old. although one thing thats new; i am currently making phone calls to inquire about master programs...so thats new, but not really fun! when i got home today i wrote a quiz on pickle ball for my physical education class, and than did a jump rope activity for tomorrow as well. good times. than i just started to sift through some of my pictures and just thought i'd share some photos with you. random pics from the past year or so....some of my all times fav's. enjoy! out.

some of my fav's from my misions trip to the dominican republic with the NWC ball team. fond memories...wanna go back soon!

my younger brother and i this summer

linus and i- a friends dog that i kick it with.

and that friends new born baby boy- Quilan. something so adorable about babies. i want one!