This is to missing my bestest friend ever...who wouldn't miss someone that looked like that? I mean seriously...he's a lot of fun! Oh, he's my own little Napoleon Dynamite!

This is the cake I decorated for our New Year's Party...not bad considering, I didn't have that great of tools to use.  

Please pray for my friend, Krista and her family. They are going through a really tough time right now as they are dealing with the death of her grandparents and her brother is in the hospital still. Here's the link that tells of their story...

http://www.lubbockonline.com/stories/123004/loc_123004041.shtml

Wow, I look so much like my dad that it scares me... 

This is my pooch, Cappy! With a face like that he gets away with everything... 

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Yay for Christmas! I'll start with Christmas Eve...I went over to Chelsey's yesterday after lunch to give her their Christmas present. And she gave me mine, a little figurine that said something real sweet about forever friends...it's downstairs so I can't say word for word what it says. I came home and played a game with the family, Buzz Word (real fun!). Then Christmas Eve service at church. We sang some Christmas stories, read of the birth of Christ then my pastor took a great turn. And we talked about the cross and Christ's purpose in life. We took communion and sang Joy to the World then we peaced out of there. We came home and I'm sure played another game, then we opened our Christmas Eve present...pajamas! Mine are real cute, green & red striped pants with a red shirt that says "I was good all year (mostly)". I stayed up late watching Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, good thing because I can't sleep on Christmas Eve.

So I woke up this morning at 5:30, but when I went to bed at 2 that seemed real unrealistic. My sister woke me up at 7:30 so I could shower and get ready to enjoy Christmas morning. We opened our stockings first thing: I got lambs, socks, 13 Going on 30, Cheaper by the Dozen & 50 First Dates and some other random nick nacks. We ate yummy yummy breakfast, breakfast casserole...I think we eat this every year. We then made our way back to the living room to open presents. I got a digital camera, woohoo! I got a couple games, dvds, wireless mouse, princess blanket and perfume...besides that just little nick nacks. We ate a yummy lunch with a cajun turkey! Then we played games all day, the new turbo edition of Cranium is pretty fun! Ya, we played games all freakin day long and it was amazing. Okay that's it for me!

pray for my future. pray that i have faith in God. pray that i will make the right decisions.

Engagement Ring
You sure are loved, or are loving! Filled with
romantic giddiness, you radiate love,
affection, and caring. You know how to make
other people's day. Your only problem is that
you risk a chance of being rejected, which is
probably a large fear of yours.

What Type of Christmas Present are You?
brought to you by

If you can't see this little link, its the blurry looking business under the description. Great, I'm an engagement ring as if Christmas doesn't rub "ur single" all over my face enough...

You are the Christmas Star.

What Christmas Ornament are you?
brought to you by

You are 'Jingle Bells'! Full of enthusiasm and
good cheer, you are excited by the first
appearances of Christmas decorations in shops
and have been heard singing along to the piped
music. Your attitude to Christmas is one of
childlike delight - with a slightly mercenary
streak. You definitely believe in Santa (you
get more presents that way) and will put up
your Christmas tree as early as possible. You
really like carolling, and presents, and mince
pies, and pudding, and will insist on getting
everyone up at dawn to open presents
immediately. So long as the food and presents
are good, you will have a great Christmas.

What Christmas Carol are you?
brought to you by

I drove into Denton yesterday and as soon as I got here I got ready for Michaela's wedding. I went over to Chelsey's to help her pick out what to wear and I played with her adorable son. I put my knee high boot on Caleb and watched him try to walk around...I nearly wet myself. Because it was such a high heel he was having a really hard time walking, but it was funny! The wedding was pretty, I think it was the first wedding I haven't cried at in awhile. I have a feeling that in my own wedding I'll have to play a recorded version of me saying my vowels or they won't be heard. In my sister's wedding I cried so much that people probably thought I was having a seizure...no lie. I got to see some people I haven't seen in some time. I got to see my closest friends from high school, Sarah & Shelley. And I got to see my old youth minister and his wife, Craig & Susan. And I got to see a girl I use to work with at Old Navy for awhile, Athica. And of course I got to see my dear friends, Renee & Rachel. It was good to get to catch up with Sarah & Shelley, we spent the entire night with them. After the wedding we went to pick Caleb up and I got to see Lori, his grandma...I love her! I wish I was part of the Ellis family, they are great! But luckily my best friend is so I can just go hang out with them with her. Weird that we've been friends for eight years. I love Chelsey Marie!! Tonight shall be fun, I'm gonna go eat dinner with Liz. So far home isn't too bad...

it's weird being around my dog now that i'm use to cappy. lil' bit is just that...a lil' bit. she weighs maybe all of 10lbs. while cappy weighs all of 72. she looks like a chihuahua to me now, i feel like if i touch her i'll break her. its definately much nicer sleeping with her in my bed unlike that massive pooch back in lubbock. marissa said that last night cappy slept with his arms around her the entire time, he best not get use to it because he won't be doing it when i get back.

So this is Cappy & Alissa. Let me just tell you a little story about this sweet innocent looking pooch. Yesterday I discovered his ability to tackle me...I was walking away from our fight session when I realized he wasn't done fighting. He took me down with a quick grab around my ankles. This pooch can put up a good fight. Today I'm in the living room fighting him again and before I know it he's overly excited about my hair clip and he punches me in the face...I get a bloody lip. So here I sit with a bloody lip, and its pretty fat. I lost to a dog... 

"Sin distorts everything, perverts everything, and corrupts everything...Sin lives off that which is good. It is a parasite, feeding greedily on the goodness of what God has made."
-Paul Marshall, Heaven is Not My Home

This is Zac Morris!!! That's right, not the Zac you remember from Saved by the Bell. But this one is so much better! We're at the Christmas Party at work, it was a blast! 

This is me & Messay at Lauren's wedding. Ya, so I just got the pictures developed...it's only five months later. 

The other day I was driving to class and I was running a little late but that's okay because I always am. I was listening to Kidd Kradick and they were trying to grant a Christmas Wish. This guy was told by his doctors to take one last vacation with his family and so Kidd Kradick wanted to raise money from listeners to send the family to Disney World. Seriously not even five minutes later someone was knocking at the door with $400. I thought to myself what an incredible thing. Then right before I got out of my car this lady called to donated $1,000 and I burst into tears. The lady goes to say that she knew the pain the family was going through as she had lost her father and her husband. I just sat there in my car and thought, in a lost world people are still that willing to help...it's amazing. So then after collecting myself enough to walk to class I think about Christians. And while yes there are many of us who do contribute to things as great as this but there are also many of us that are really selfish. I thought about how people are looking for money to be spent on Missions all the time where thousands of people are unsaved and with out our love what will happen when they die? I personally do not feel a call to world missions but is it not my roommate who needs to raise money to go to Moscow? Is it not the ministry that I am involved in that needs money to build a building for Tech students to hang out to as an alternative to clubs & bars? And yes I realize we are all college students and are money isn't growing on trees and often isn't even existent. Which makes it hard for us to want to give, but as Strap always said, "if your not willing to give now in your poverty, why would you give in your riches?" So how many people are in your life right now that are going to another country and need a lot of support? Can you not drop them a little cash? What about the Lottie Moon offering at church? Anyway, if this world is so willing to send a family on vacation because this man is dying. Why shouldn't we give a friend some money to send them to share the good news with a lost world who is dying too? I'm not saying don't give your money to the man to go on a vacation but use your money wisely. Send someone to China or Russia or wherever it is. Help a friend out when they wanna go to dinner with everyone but can't afford it. Just from experience I know that when your willing to give God is so gracious as to provide for you. I can think of some clear examples in my own life, and God is real good to me financially even though he sometimes should just take all my money away from me.

So this week has been wonderful, absolutely wonderful.

Monday night Renee started moving in and we all went to dinner at On The Border and got to know each other and umm, Renee is amazing!

Tuesday night was the Coldstone work party at Ruby Tequilla's and it was a blast! I seriously had so much stinkin' fun. I got to hang out with Zac and sing with Rebecca. And Kali took me, and she's great! Then me and Roxy hung out afterwards with Megan at Moose Magoo's. So for a funny story about Ruby Tequillas...Zac & I decided to cut up little pieces of jalenpeno and we were both gonna eat it. Zac was smart and threw his over his shoulder while I threw mine in my mouth. At first I thought it wasn't too bad then suddenly it hit and it was really really bad. I started crying uncontrollably. It felt like someone had lit my eyes and mouth on fire. I drank half of Stevens coke trying to make the pain go away, then I ate cheese and a tortialla hoping that would calm it down but no luck. So finally I took off running for the bathroom and I'm sure everyone in the restraunt thought "some drunk girls abotu to throw up" but really, I was running because I knew my mascara was all over my face. And when I finally looked in the mirror sure enough my mascara was up too my forehead, and down to my chin. I rinsed my face with water and applied a wet rag to my lips. I was in so much pain! I got back to the table and the fajitas had arrived and the smoke from them made my eyes burn ten times more. Finally I just started eating and the food eased the pain...I will never eat a jalepeno again...EVER!

Wednesday night I came home from class and hung out with Renee. Did I say Renee was amazing yet?

Thursday night I studied at Daybreak with Renee...she's amazing!

Last night me and Renee planned a date night. We went and ate dinner with James at Moose Magoo's then we went to see Oceans 12. Okay, so I so thought it was better than the first. I thought it was amazing just like Renee. About Moose Magoo's, I haven't laughed as hard as I laughed while we there. I seriously am shocked that I didn't wet myself. Some lady totally fell out of her chair at the bar which was funny. Then directly after that a waitress dropped her food. And sometime during our wonderful time there I spit my drink up everywhere and my burger ended up kind of soggy. So I saw like twenty people I know at the movie theatre and that was reallly really fun for me. So I had a great night!

Today was great too. I went to lunch at Ruby Tequiillas with Zac, Bubba & Rebecca and we had a good time. We got gift certificates from the Christmas party for writing and singing a song. I really enjoy hanging out with them, they are lots of fun. I will kind of miss working at Coldstone...ya thats right, I quit. I spent the day around the hosue cleaning and making cookies. And tonight we had our Southcrest Christmast party. It was a blast. We had a white elephant gift exchange and I ended up with this 3 in 1 pool table set that is amazing! And after the party was over a couple people stayed and we played Twister, I laughed so hard. Andy, Nathan, & Caleb played a round, then Chris & Will and lastly the girls, me, Renee, Alissa & Marissa. Marissal Chris & Nathan were the winners and they did a pretty good job. Well I'm pooped from Twister so I'm gonna go to bed. But tonight and this past week were absolutely incredible and my new roommate is amazing!

so spending time with the family was good although i really missed my sister. last night we were over at my aunts and i was being really stupid and i couldn't help but think "i'm just like my sister, i wish she was here". yesterday morning we were shopping and i was wishing she was here too, but i'd rather have her for christmas as she so wonderfully pointed out. it's awesome because it was going to be thanksgiving spent together and then christmas would have kind of been really lonely, but things changed and now i get to be with my sister for christmas which makes me one happy girl. i was wondering how christmas was gonna play out when i was going to have to spend christmas one the 18th with her and my parents and then christmas day was gonna be here and it was gonna be with my parents and grandma, aunt, uncle & cousin. nothing against them but i've never spent christmas with out my sister and i'm frankly not ready to. i love my sister a lot a lot alot!

so what am i thankful for? man as i woke up turkey day i looked at johnny's away message and it said to not only be thankful for blessings but also for your trials...wow! so ya think about it...i mean trials suck no lie, but where do they take you in the end? I wouldn't be the Jana I am today if it wasn't for all the trials I've experienced in my life so far. This past month or so I've had to focus a lot on Hebrews 12:1-13 where it talks about "God discplining His sons" and there is one verse in particular that just sticks, verse 7, "Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by His father?" and then verse 11, "No discpline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of rightouesness and peace for those who have been trained by it." Man seriously...it does suck at first, but seriously evaluate your life and the trials you've been through and see how you've gotten through them and see how much closer that brought you to God. Then realize that being thankful for your trials is really important. James 1 also does a pretty good job of teaching us about trials and temptations...I recall reading that nearly everyday in junior high and high school, tough times for me personally. But God brought me through them thankfully!

I guess this is a good enough post for now, Alissa requested that I update the blog...so here I sit updating it. By the way, I have a new roommate and his name is Cappy, he's a 72lb Boxer and he's got a very interesting personality and he requires lots of attention. If you ever feel the need to wrestle, play tug of way, toss the ball or frisbee or even go on a walk then feel free to come play at our house. Also, Cappy loves cuddling. Pictures to come soon...

So today I called Chelsey and this precious little boy got on the phone to talk to me and he told me he loved me. With Chelseys help of course, I could hear Chelsey telling him what to say in the background but thats okay because I absolutely love this child. Isn't he just a stud?! 

Here's my precious little boy, Caleb! Man he only gets cuter and cuter. Hes gonna be 2 this year, wow! 

Christmas Wishlist

DVDS:

Mary Poppins
50 First Dates
13 Going on 30
Empire Records
French Kiss
Polyanna
Parent Trap: The Classic
The Prince & Me
Complete Seasons of Friends
Season One of The Golden Girls (laugh it up)

Stuff for my room:

Red princess blanket from Target (Eastern Passage, Velvet Burnout)
Red Eastern Passage Lamp

Games:

Crap or Fact?
Outburst Remix
Blurt

Other stuff:

Abercrombie 8 Perfume
Sweaters that actually keep your warm and cover skin
Brown boots
Wireless mouse

Only dreaming:

Dads Truck
Portable DVD player
A bicycle

makes me sad when your closest friend doesnt have time to talk to you anymore even when you're having a really bad day. miss you.

Soap Box...

We're in college...

No temper tantrums because you don't get your way. We're not two anymore.

Lecture outlines don't have to be word to word to understand them, we're in college we should know how to take notes.

Pet Peeve of the Day: Lubbbock drivers suck! They don't use their blinkers, they drive 30 in a 50, old people don't drive in a lane...oh how I love the drivers in lubbock.

Today as I sit in Close Relationships I really think about how lost this world is. Looking at statistics of divorce, infedelity and all that jazz makes me sad. Makes me realized how unsaved this world is. Work out your disagreements, don't let little crap like who didn't take out the trash cause conflict. We discussed a couple who sets aside once a week to confront conflicitual topics and if you did that...dont you think you'd forget about all that stupid petty crap? Think about it...

I learned something good today, and from Usher. Usher is not God or no bible, but he has some insightful words to share in his album. I was listening to a song and I wanted the lyrics to it so I decided to pull out the little booklet diddy to see if the lyrics were in there. Unfortunately no lyrics, but on every page is a confession Usher wrote. This one rang so true for me in my life today: Confession #1 "Sometimes you have to go through something to get to something". This applies so well to the scripture I've been meditating on for the past week and the realization I've come to concerning the past four months of my life. I've been focused on Hebrews 12 about God disciplining us after realizing that for the past four months I've been doing crazy things and it's time for me to be disciplined even though it hurts. Then to come around such profound words from Usher that tell me that sometimes we have to go through something to get somewhere else...if I wouldn't have gone through the things I did this summer then I wouldn't be where I am today.

A funny for today...anyone else fear getting hit more by a bike than a bus or a car on campus? Well I do because the bike riders are crazy. Well today I was leaving Jon Lisa and I told them I had to hurry so I could beat traffic across University and as I darted out the front door I walked write into a bike rider...slamming right into him causing his bike to wobble. I apologized and got really red I am sure, I felt so bad...too bad neither of us got hurt because the story would be ten times more funny...but point being, it was funny that I walked into a guy riding his bike...I fear the bike riders!!

What a creative thing to do with the snow...man I love the art work! Anyway, I know I've posted this already but this morning I went and took a picture so I could see it even better. 

Color edition...gorgeous as well.  

This is part of my American pride day. Umm this is my sepia version, pretty saweet if you ask me... 

Flash edition! YAY DUBYA! 

So is this not the sweetest thing you've ever seen?? This is out infront of someones house in my neighborhood. Makes me proud...This is the non flash edition. 

PRAISE GOD FOR GEORGE W. BUSH! I was stoked to find out that this wonderful man is going to continue presidency for another four years. I'm proud to be an american and especially under Bush's leadership. 

i love this picture 

This is where me & alissa are sleeping tonight since we have no heat. And we bought electric blankets...ooo its gonna be warm!!! 

Isnt this gorgeous? A picture of what God gave me today.  

Isn't this sweet? It look so old fashioned... 

So can you tell? 

What's wrong with this picture. Incase you can't figure it out let me post another so you can tell what I am eating... 

RANDOMNESS

So today's blog is dedicated to random things that have gone on this week or whatever. And we all know that I am very random so this blog fits me very well.

First, I was in line at the bank the other day and I heard the lady next to me talking and it sounded like a very close family friend so I turn my head to look and definately disappointed that it wasn't Cindi. But it made me happy because I love Cindi.

Second, yesterday we are sitting at work talking and I start talking about my Grandma. I decide to show the girls my GeeMa and Roxy is like where'd she live. I tell her she lived in an assisted living center on 50th and she said "Ventura Place" and I said "ya!" Turns out Roxy use to work with my GeeMa and said she was amazing. Then we both cried...teehee!

Third, in the midst of writing this my roommate just broke our shower door. It was almost me this morning, it wouldn't shut and I was ready to break it off. It's silly anyway, who uses those anymore?!

Fourth, on the way to school yesterday I saw a hurst that was very much so decorated for Day of the Dead. It had all sorts of festive stuff plus lots of skulls. Anyway.

So today it's been one year exactly since my Geema died. And I went home for the weekend because I just thought it would be a great weekend to spend some time with my mommy. So this morning I am sitting in church and this video starts to play that deals directly with the serman. Sermon titled "God is bigger than our grief". In the video they were asking people what has hurt them and it seems as though a lot of people mentionted death and of course my tears start rolling instantly. How crazy is it that Larry's sermon just happened to be on grief exactly one year after I lost the person I cared most about. The hardest thing I've ever had to deal with...crazy! Not only did he preach about it but I was sitting with my best friend who drove up the day my Grandma died...God provided me with her a year ago and today. I love Chelsey soooo much! After the service our benediction song was "Because He Lives" and it even more so reminded me of my Grandma. There was no way that I wasn't 100% suppose to be in Denton this weekend and that was sure proof to me. God continued making me smile all day. As we were driving home I look up and I seriously spent at least half an hour staring at the sun as it changed and set. Trent was asleep and I was just thinking about how gorgeous the sunset was and God's amazing love for me. Then I got pulled over and by the grace of God I only got a warning. Anyway, God is good...very very good. I wanna share the sermon from today with ya'll but I am really tired from staying out so late last night. So tomorrow I will update this a little bit better.

IN LOVING MEMORY OF EMILY BELLE "Bobbie" aka GEEMA!!!

.




DUBYA

My contribute to George today was just me wanting to point out what Spencer Ingram said in the UD today. "I respect Bush fo allowing his faith to shape his actions, ideals and decisions. This paints a good picture of what faith is; something you live by, not with. It seems Kerry's religious beliefs go as deep as the ritual and legalisitc aspects of Catholicism and stop before they reach the gospel's deeper truth. I cannot trust the character of a leader who keeps whatever faith he claims to have separate from his actions, decisions and morals." I really enjoyed reading Spencers article as I always enjoy his articles, I think he has a lot of profound things to say. Another thing to share is that last night in the debate I loved what George said, "prayer & religion sustain me." I have to say I love that man Dubya. I am reading the book The Faith of George W. Bush and I absolutely love it and getting to know more about my wonderful president.

My sister sent me this so I figured I would share it with all of you:

Dear Friend, Greetings from Focus on the Family! By now, you've undoubtedly heard about our innovative new voter registration initiative here at the ministry. The outcome of the general election in November will likely influence the direction of our nation for years to come, and our goal is to ensure that all eligible Christians are registered to vote. Whether directly or indirectly, our elected leaders will be making life and death decisions on our behalf over the next four years. Critical issues will be addressed by those in power, including how the war on terror will be fought; whether the youngest members of the human race will be sacrificed in the name of medical research; whether the "right" to kill pre-born children will continue; and whether marriage will be defined exclusively as the sacred union of one man and one woman, as God intended. Without a doubt, you and I and millions of other Christians have a vested interest in how those questions will be answered. Unfortunately, 39 million Christians did not take the time to vote in the last presidential election. In addition, 24 million won't be able to vote in this year's election because they are not registered! With the well-being of future generations at stake, I hope that you can appreciate the critical nature of this coming election and the absolute necessity of registering and then voting for the candidates who represent your values. To streamline the registration process, Focus has developed a Web site, www.iVoteValues.org [http://66.179.18.10/nct?id=496907&urlid=164&aid=184]. I urge you to visit the site and register, if you have not already done so. In addition, please encourage your unregistered family members and friends to log on to ivotevalues.org [http://66.179.18.10/nct?id=496907&urlid=165&aid=184] as soon as possible. I hope that you and your loved ones will do everything you can to make sure that you are fully equipped to make your voices heard this fall. It only takes a few minutes, but the impact could potentially last for generations. Please don't let these opportunities pass you by. Being involved in the public square is the duty of all Christians, and registering to vote is the key to engaging in the democratic process as our Founding Fathers envisioned it. Every voice does matter - don't underestimate the importance of your vote in influencing our country for righteousness! Sincerely, James C. Dobson, Ph.D. Founder and Chairman P.S. Please visit our CitizenLink Web site (www.citizenlink.org) to view additional information on the social issues impacting our culture and to sign up for the CitizenLink Daily E-mail Update, which provides the latest family-related news and offers "take action" steps for personal involvement.

Quotations: "When we withhold our influence and participation, we yield by default to those who promote immoral and destructive policies." James Dobson

"The only thing needed for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing." Edmund Burke, British Statesman

"If America is to survive, we must elect more God-centered men and women to public office; individuals who will seek Divine guidance in the affairs of state." Billy Graham, Evangelist

"When the godly are in authority, the people rejoice. But when the wicked are in power, they groan." Solomon (Proverbs 29:2 NKJV) -by far, the best thing in this entire letter!

Remember to Forward this Important Message from Dr. Dobson to Your Family and Friends! Focus on the Family received your e-mail address on family.org or through the mail. We sincerely apologize if someone else has submitted your address without your permission. If you do not wish to receive future e-mail product offers, please reply to this message with 'Remove' in the subject line. Copyright 2004, Focus on the Family. All Rights Reserved. Focus on the Family Colorado Springs, CO 80995 1-800-A-FAMILY (232-6459) Source Code: VP04HEIVV

The memories start...this was sent to everyone in the family a little while after her death. My Granddad died in 1995 so that's why there is a picture of the two of them. I love them both oh so much. 

Here's to the woman I miss most! It's almost been a year since she died and this past week I've been thinking about her a lot. I'll probably go into greater detail next week when it's actually been a full year since her death, but I figured I'd post a picture in memory of her. 10/17/03