Update!

It has been awhile since I last wrote but it’s a good time to write you all! I survived my summer working for NASA in Los Angeles…it was a long summer and although paid well I wouldn’t sign up for it again. So I got back to Houston and resumed my teaching job (still Physics and AP Physics C) with the same school. It has actually been a great year! I really love my kids and I really feel like a veteran teacher. I feel like I fit in with the staff (we have a lot of cool new, young teachers in the science dept) and feel more connected to my leaders, too. I started a Rocket Club with some great students and will also sponsor Robotics in January. It’s a good thing I’ve got going! We just got out for Thanksgiving break- a whole week!

I still work for Space Center but instead of the actual teaching over video conferencing, they pay me more to do personal contract work making new lessons for them! It’s infrequent and on my own time, pretty sweet.

I still live in the same apartment with Mac (my cat). I found a fabulous black leather sofa and loveseat for super cheap (I sold my old couches to teacher friends- it worked out perfectly), so my apartment is even cuter now. I have a pretty new bed set, too! Mac is doing great. Love that cat. He’s just as spastic as ever but keeps life interesting!

I’m dating someone! If you’re on facebook you might have seen the photos. J His name is Matt Francis. He’s the same age as me (26) and is from the Dallas area. He did attend some high school in Germany and Korea. He served his mission in London. He graduated from BYU in exercise science and wants to start Baylor’s Physical Therapy program with the Army next fall. Right now he’s a physical trainer (so he’s got muscles…) and he’s working on some pre-req classes for the Baylor program. (muscles and brains!). We met on Halloween---my friend Julie is dating his brother Sam and we all went to our Halloween party together and just hit it off. He asked me over for dinner the next day and we’ve seen each other everyday since! (well, okay he was out of town for a few days but other than that…). We’ve gone shooting, to the opera, a hockey game, to my see favorite singer Regina Spektor, ran 4 miles yesterday, and more! Who knew I’d actually like shooting and running! Maybe it’s just because I’m with a cute boy. He’s so sweet, smart, and funny and we’re just smitten. Although it’s only been three weeks, we’re pretty dang crazy about each other. We spend every minute we can together. I couldn’t ask for a better guy. Even last night he surprised me with candles and our first slow dance to “You are so beautiful”. How romantic!

Right now I’m on my way to Utah to visit my friend Aubrey for the week! Then I’ll probably go to Dallas to meet Matt’s family Friday (connecting flight is in Dallas so Matt suggested I just skip the next flight to Houston and stay with his family for the weekend). I will be in Spokane from December 20^th to 30^th …then Dallas for New Year’s. Then Las Vegas for Grandma’s 90^th birthday in mid-January with all the extended family! Matt will have to come to Washington soon- he just learned how to play cribbage and almost beat me…

Well, that’s my update. I am very happy and feel very blessed to have such wonderful things going on in my life!

Cooking

Real Simple- Month's worth of meals. Here's one recipe.

Tilapia With Peppers and Olives

Jose Picayo

Serves 4Hands-On Time: 20mTotal Time: 20m

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 6-ounce tilapia fillets
• kosher salt and black pepper
• 2 red bell peppers, thinly sliced
• 1 onion, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup pitted green olives
• 1/2 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

Directions

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Season the fish with 1⁄4 teaspoon each salt and pepper and cook until opaque throughout, 4 to 5 minutes per side.
2. Meanwhile, heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in a second large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the peppers and onion, stirring often, until tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in the olives, parsley, lime juice, and 1⁄4 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Serve with the fish.

i do NOT live that far away, people

Just saying, please don't use the excuse that I "live too far away" to exclude me from any goings ons in the singles ward. I drive to Church every week and usually something Friday and/or Saturday and you don't hear me complaining that I live too far away. I will drive if I want to go to something. But don't say we don't hang out or are better friends because I live too far away.

Muchas Gracias!

victor

Victor passed away this morning. I am glad that I could help bring him the Gospel and I hope he will be an angel watching over me throughout my life. Love you, Victor!

Querida,

VIctor murió hoy a las 04 AM, en su casa, èl se acordó de ti, el domingo pasado, y dijo que te dijiera, que fue al templo, y oró por sus amigas. El estaba muy enfermo.. pero ahora, estará feliz porque sus amigas le enseñaron el evangelio.. y gracias a tu obediencia, él se pudo bautizar..

Te quiero mucho.

Luz

veteran teacher

whoa. I feel like a veteran teacher. I have things under control! I know what I'm doing! It's fabulous. There are a few new teachers in the science department- so I'm not the youngest (I haven't been the newest for awhile) anymore! The new teachers are fabulous and fun- I like them a lot! I feel like it's going to be a great year!!!!!! We switched from block to 7-period days which is an adjustment for all. The day just goes by so fast and you don't have much prep time but that's okay. I really have an awesome science department! Our dept head is wonderful, the 'older' teachers are so nice, and I am so grateful for Matt... it's just good. :)

That's all for now.

toning up!

yay! I'm finally seeing results from my 7-8 weeks of personal training! Now that I can eat decent food (which was hard in LA with all the eating out) I am losing weight and toning up! I have biceps I can see! :) So I'm just going to keep this healthy lifestyle up (that's all it is) and go back to my skinny self and be all buff! :)

Here's what I do-

2 days/wk with personal trainer + cardio

2 days/wk without PT weights and/or cardio

8 hrs of sleep (doctor says that helps lose weight)

trying to eat real foods, no preservatives.

actually eating breakfast

little-to-no carbs at dinner

More water (although I still drink diet coke)

see- just plain healthy. LOVE it.

that's not my name

Thank you to the Ting Tings for my theme song as I return to Texas. Apparently when I say "Jenn" here people think I say "Jan", "Jane"

"Janet". That happened TWICE today. Really, Texans? Is my "washington" accent so off that you can't understand that my name is

Jenn? So weird. THAT'S NOT MY NAME. Now don't get me started on DanielS. Even Jack Daniel's is Daniel-apostrophe-S. Jeez.

Poor Ting Ting girl gets called "her", "Stacey", "Jane", "Mary", "Jolisa" Those aren't even close to whatever her name is. :)

america's got farts?

okay, so embarrassing moment with my physical trainer at the gym today. He was making me do crunches. I had a sweat band around my waist, which is rubbery, so when I would sit up it would move slightly and make a farting noise. I tried adjusting mid-crunch and hoped that he didn't think I was farting (heaven forbid!). Then he realized I did have a sweat band that was making the farting noises...he thought it was pretty funny. He said it'd be impressive if I could really do that- fart continuously. He said I could go on America's Got Talent. "Jennifer Daniel...is this real? Yup, she can fart continually! Let's see this!" says the announcer. Oh gosh. He went off for a minute or so while I tried to finish my crunches. Goodness.

And then he burped. :)

ode to victor

I just got word that my favorite convert from Chile, Victor, is dying of lung cancer. He was so amazing and will forever be a key part of my life. Let me tell you about him.

Lindsey Lansing and I were companions in Santiago. I only had a few months in the mission and she only had a few to go. But I was new to the area. Lansing had taught English on Saturdays to a lot of non-members and Victor used to attend. One day we were at a little tienda (shop) and talked to someone who happened to know Victor. He hadn't been to English class in a while and this lady told us he was sick and gave us (so conveniently) his address. So, we went to visit! He was just delighted to have us visit and to know someone cared. Victor was 66 (I think) when we met him and he lived alone. He had a bad habit of smoking- but was one of the most determined to stop. He said he could've bought a house with as much money he's spent on cigarettes over the years! We would teach him about the Book of Mormon and the Gospel and would take him to church. We would eat cookies and drink Ecco (coffee that's not coffee). We would even speak in English (he spoke really well!). It was grand. He got bapti

zed and I just remember being so happy that day. So happy. I love Victor! He gave up a lot to join the Church and his determination got him far, always did. He was in the EQ presidency not long after I left the mission and was always the best with investigators! Oh, Victor.

I'm so sorry he has lung cancer. I have faith Heavenly Father knows what he's doing, but I just can't help but get teary eyed. I can't lose my Victor! Hang in there, my dear friend. I love you!

gratitude and adventures

Okay, so it's been an adventure here in LA with the clan of ten kids.  Let me focus on the positives.  For one, how many people can say they got to work for NASA for a summer in LA?  Pretty snazzy.  And financially, it pays better than my teaching job. Can't go wrong there.  On top of that, I get to temporarily live in LA and not pay for rent or food or gas or parking. That adds up, my friends. I get to see cool things and tour around (also paid for).  I also get to know some awesome kids who have bright futures and are just plain great. A lot of them are just a blast.  Impressive bunch. Even if I am with them 24/7 minus the few hours they're at work!  :)

Yes, I've been lonely here in LA- not being around anyone my age is tough- but I have learned a lot about myself.  I am working on my biggest flaw- being too hard on myself.  How do I fix that?  Well being alone with your thoughts makes you fix that or you'll go crazy!  That and going to the temple. And going to the gym. I got a personal trainer contract (which will still be good in Texas) and so I'm getting all buff. ;)  It's a confidence booster. I may come off confident, but I sure don't feel it some days. But that's changing. I feel more confident and at peace with myself.  So a little bit of physical confidence along with spiritual confidence (yup, Heavenly Father keeps telling me to be patient!) I think I can conquer the world. Or close. 

I can do hard things (reference from my mission president).  I am scared to start school next month but every day I'm less scared. I know more than I did a couple years ago. I CAN handle high schoolers.  I'm learning to not take things personally. I'm a sweet gal and if they don't like me that's their problem (still trying to convince myself of that...).  I can't make everyone happy (a lesson learned this summer when trying to please ten kids at once).  But I can make me happy.  I control that.  It's not what city I'm in, if I'm dating anyone, what job I have... it's all about my perspective on those things that really makes me happy.  That's what matters. 

I will be grateful to be home in Houston with my friends and start a new school year. It's going to be a good year- in many ways. And I'll keep learning from the experiences put in my path. I know I was here to be in LA with these great kids for a reason. I've learned lots from them and hope they have learned something from Maegan and me, too.  It hasn't been easy but I think it's been worth it.

My adventures aren't over....

when the going gets tough...

...I don't blog.

I'm just trying to make the best of it.

Will write more when I can think of happier things!

Walking LA

I found this book and bought it because it'll help me stay busy here in LA!  Some days are way busier than others (like Thursday we have a 3.5 hour drive to the middle-of-nowhere to see giant satellite receivers for deep space in Goldstone and next Tuesday freshman come up for a tour of JPL).  BUT nonetheless I'm excited to give some of these routes a try. Now, where to start!

Other goals of mine- going to the LA Temple (I think Wednesday I'll go!) and also getting my butt into shape with a trainer at the gym.  

a rare friend

Let me tell you about a dear dear friend of mine. We were in the same MTC district together and the same mission.  We became extremely good friends in the MTC and that still continues today. I've been home over three years, so it's almost five that we've known each other. Right now he's in the middle east studying abroad. So cool!  We have a spiritual friendship that is hard to describe.  He was one of the biggest supports I had on the mission. And he claims I was one of his, too. I feel like he is a rare friend because he truly sees me how Heavenly Father would see me.  I know he knows my weaknesses and my strengths (missions do that to ya!) yet he thinks I'm amazing.  He always knows exactly what to say. He believes in me more than I believe in myself most times.  And he knows that, too.  He sees my testimony more than I see it some days. He sees the good I do with my job and opportunities even though I think they're not that great of accomplishments.  He's proud of me.  That's sweet when a friend tells you that.  He also reminded me that if a guy doesn't see me like he sees me then he's missing out.  Talking to him this week shifted my focus a little in terms of what I truly need in a relationship. I need to feel special!  This friend makes me feel that way. Encourages, loves, supports, edifies, builds upon, etc, and it's okay for me to do that back to him!  I need to find a guy like that.  (and you may ask why I don't date said friend...well...it's more complicated than you think. But I've asked the same questions myself more than a few times!).  Anyways, I'm so grateful for this friend and his never-ending love and friendship! 

Maeganisms

Here is a mini dictionary that I feel the need to create because Maegan says the darnedest things sometimes! Being from a small town, she says some crazy things sometimes that catch us saying "what?"

dom (v): dominate. "Our restaurant will dom your restaurant!"

dingleberry (n): lint stuck on your clothes. "These washing machines make dingleberries on my shirt! Look!"

welp (n): a bruise or marking from something hitting you hard. Commonly known as a welt. "Have you ever thrown pie dough? Man, those things give you welps!"

gondola (n) [goon-dah-la]: boats in Italy or sky rides. Commonly known as gondolas. "I loved the gondola ride! Or whatever that was!"

cat of nine tails (n): medieval weaponry. Used to signify something that surprises you in a bad way. "Just get us with a cat of nine tails, would ya?"

gotcheyed (a) [gotch- eyed]: crooked, messed up. "That satellite is all gotcheyed!"

whipjacked (a): crooked, messed up. "They don't say gotcheyed much any more. Whipjacked is more common."

pirate jackal (n): a selfish, conniving person who makes life rough for someone else. "Them pirate jackals are coming!"

bobbed wire (n): wire with spikes on it. Commonly known as barbed wire. "Good steak places have bobbed wire over the doors. That's how you know they're good."

ice cream man (n): someone who will snatch up little kids and "chop them to pieces."

whistley-boogers (n): hard boogers in your nose that make whistle sounds sometimes. "I couldn't sleep last night because of them whistley-boogers!"

skunk-eyes (n): this is the look someone gives you when you said something wrong. "I said ice cream and she gave me skunk-eyes!"

More to come. Love her!

the LA update

I haven't written in almost a month! That's so not like me!  I think I haven't just because I'm just now feeling comfortable in LA and the things I'm doing here.  

Maegan is the Student Advisor. She's 20 and is a junior at Oklahoma State University.  Either her or I have to be with the kids when they're not at JPL (the NASA center).  She's a riot. From Stillwater, Oklahoma- we teach her a lot of things about city-living and she teaches us funny things from a small town view!  It's rather hilarious to be around her.

Maegan and me at the Zoo

Our crazy kiddos

Our 10 kids are all 16 or 17 years old. They will be seniors in the fall. They get paid decent money to intern at JPL.  (Maegan and I get paid decently, too!) We all get activities paid for and room, board, travel, and perdiem.  It's sorta fun!  The kids are great bunch. 6 boys and 4 girls. Everyone gets along really well and seems to be enjoying it.  We're all on the same floor in the dorm and have a lounge to hang out in if we want. 

So the kids have completed 2 out of their 8 weeks here.  Here's an example of my schedule:

6:40 wake up

7:00 take the kids to breakfast on campus (we're staying at Occidental College in northeast LA)

7:30 leave for JPL

7:45 drop kids off at work!  yay!

[now it's my free time. I usually go to the gym then run errands like get the van's oil changed. I like to go shopping or walk around the area. I have a library card here!  I like naps, too. I've gone to JPL a couple times for cool tours or speakers.   I'm not quite sure where all my time goes, but I feel busy yet lazy (minus the gym!). Maegan's usually studying so it's rare if she does anything with me. I need to add to my free time list!!!!!!]

4:40 Maegan leaves to get kids

5:00 kids are off work!

6:00 kids are back from dinner on campus (I usually eat a big lunch so I don't eat dinner. Plus it's not the best...)

7:00 activity!  Mondays are surveys/abstracts, Tuesdays are a hands on engineering activity, Wednesday are fun things like bowling/laser tag, Thursdays are work-on-projects time.

8:30 wind down time

11:00 "curfew"

Rinse and repeat. Except Friday night we do fun things like go to movies and Saturdays are usually planned ahead for us to go to museums or six flags.  And Sundays we just go out to eat and do laundry here at the dorms. Our kids get every other Friday off, too!  Lucky ducks.  They had a four day weekend for the fourth of July. All but two went home for the weekend.  The two who stayed get to hang out with us all weekend!  It's been fun so far! :)  I mean, we do have Disneyland tomorrow! (but CA kids don't think it's that great because they go too much. Oh poor babies).  But the Zoo and USS Midway were definitely a treat for us all. 

I really like it here--for the summer--but couldn't see myself raising a family here. Traffic (which thankfully we only have on weekends where we're at!), crazy people, sketchy areas of town, no super target!  How do people not have a Super Target or Super Walmart? Those places rock- can't beat all-in-one shopping. And 9.25% tax! Yikes.  Everything is more expensive here.  And the road system here makes no sense.  We named our GPS "Jill" and she's helpful but sometimes frustrating, too!  :)  What happened to grid streets?  The city is just overwhelming sometimes.  And being in a big ol' van doesn't help!  

Mainly I just miss being around people my own age. I'm either with Maegan (20) or a bunch of 17 year olds. Yes, they're great and I adore them, but I miss my friends in Houston.  I did go to Church last week but didn't really get to know anyone. And you saw my schedule, I can only hang out during the day!  Don't hesitate to text or call me---I need the friend interaction!  It can get kind of boring here.  

Learning from Linda

I got to do the training this week for the summer NASA Experience and met some great people. I met my student advisor, Maegan (who is a hoot and a holler!) and also a couple other chaperones and their advisors.  Linda, who will be chaperoning at the Glenn Research Center in Ohio, was one I got to spend a lot of time with and learned a lot of things. She is a beautiful person, inside and out.  I want to share some of the wisdom I got from her.  

-Have self control when eating. She had gall-bladder surgery and can only eat certain things. She was so good and responsible!  Gosh, I would've wanted to eat, eat, eat. Oh wait, I do. 

-Be money-wise.  Her husband, the main bread-winner, lost his job due to the economy. She is just so positive it's infectious. Her husband even sold her motorcycle when she was at training! She's made a lot of sacrifices but does so willingly. 

-Laugh lots. She laughs a lot. I love it!

-Wear Protective Gear.  Like a helmet and full leather (even in Arizona) while biking. She was always safe riding her motorcycle. Noted. :)

-Love unconditionally. She has some obnoxious people in her extended family yet no matter how much she gets treated poorly or anything she just loves them. Love them like Jesus would, she said. She focuses on the good things and just praises that.  That takes a lot of charity!  She told me stories, and goodness, it would be hard to be so charitable!

-Be bold in love.   She was the first one to tell her husband (a shy guy) that she liked him.  He ignored her for a few days...then she asked him what was up and he said "oh, I thought we were dating."   She had to teach him a thing or two but wasn't afraid to be bold. No games there. 

-Tip the hotel maid. I never thought to do this, but case in point- she left $2/day and got shampoos and stuff everyday.  I did not and never got one more thing (for 4 days!) and didn't even get garbage taken out.   Yup. A little kindness goes a long ways.  Besides, they only get min. wage.  I always put the 'don't wash my sheets' thing out (which would save a little work, right?). But I will tip now.

-Always be positive.  I can't remember one negative thing she said. Even when things sucked, she was still really positive.  And she never had anything bad to say about anyone.  I want to be like that!  

-It's okay to be assertive.  She's not afraid to stand up for herself in a professional manner (at the right time, and appropriately done) and ask for positive criticism along with the negative she always got (from a different job). She made an agreement for things to change or she'd change jobs.   

-Have faith in people.  She's sticking with the job having faith that that person will change as she said she would.  

-Recognize blessings. Okay, so working for NASA is a big deal but I think I often forget that.  But it is!  She's so excited, as we should be.   I don't know why I'm not more grateful for this awesome opportunity along with the great pay.  I mean, I am, but compared to Linda I'm not!    I was hired in early April and the other two chaperones with me weren't hired until May or last Friday (they had a chaperone cancelled due to a family emergency Friday!!).  And I'm much much younger than them.  I should be very grateful because I don't have the same teaching experience or wisdom as they do!

Anyways, that was some wisdom from the lovely Linda in the four days we spent together.  Thanks, Linda!

Precision Driving Ace

Driving Maneuvers

Shuffle steering


Forward serpentine


Off-road recovery


Turn-around


Backing


Controlled braking


Evasive steering


Skid Control

I rode in that skid car! And learned a lot as I drove the 12-passenger van on their courses. My dad would be proud!   I did knock over a few cones throughout the afternoon but that's to be expected.   Maegan (my student advisor for LA) and I had a lot of fun bonding over these intense situations.  Sigh. We made it!  And now we're better drivers!!!

t-r-a-i-n-i-n-g

I feel important.  Teaching you don't get to travel on the company!  This is fun!  Just took a flight that I didn't pay a cent for, oh yeah, parking at airport taken care of, rental car will be reimbursed, have a hotel room waiting for me, etc.  Fab life I gotta say.  Simply fabulous.

Training overview (because I know you care)-

Saturday- All day driving classes. I have to drive a 12 person van. Yikes. I can't even back out of Lucki and Stephen's long skinny driveway in my own car. It's 8 hours long. What can they teach us for 8 hours????  Maybe I do need that long! 

Sunday/Monday- All day training at OkState University.  Everything from expense reports, duties, activities we'll be doing, web conferencing, and more. 

Monday night- First Aid training. (I'm sorta excited about that!)

Tuesday- Fly out around noon. Back around 3. Wanna hang out?  I'm free free free until the 18th (at least I think that's when I fly out!). I want to go to Galveston one day.  

Flight Friends

Flights are always fun, don't ya think?  I wasn't in a mood to talk to people, but that didn't last for long.  Well, in the terminal this guy was spitting/chewing tobacco into a cup so I did not want to talk to him!!!  On the flight to Dallas, I sat in between this cute little six year old, Reese, who was by herself going to Kansas City.  Friendly little black girl who colored a Clone Wars coloring book.  I got a cool sticker of what looked like Jaba the Hut's baby in a bag. (so ugly it was cute.)  And probably got funny looks transferring flights with that sticker on me. haha. I wore it proudly.  My other new friend was Andy. He was on his way to Dallas to help his girlfriend move to Houston---they were going to drive back tonight! Crazy.  He works for Shell (finance) and lives in Midtown.  Same age as me.  Cool cool.   My transfer flight I sat by a couple. The lady was doing puzzles like Suduko and Minesweeper (mindsweeper?).  We were trying to help each other but realized we both suck at them. haha. I can do Suduko but I'm not fast.  Min_sweeper just made me mad. I confess; I kept looking at the answer key for help!  

Now I'm waiting for one of the other chaperones to get in. I got the rental car but need her!  I don't know her, but we have an hour long drive to get to know each other!  Oh, I also ran into a Chem 105 student Bryce Jasjdifaeoasdf (really long last name like Jaggermiester? Wait, isn't that alcohol?).  He wasn't mine but would come to my TA reviews. I loved TAing!!!  He just got home from his mission here in Tulsa, OK. Well, got home a couple weeks ago and now is coming back with his folks.  I thought I saw a BYU shirt when I got on the plane...(I never wear BYU apparel though but it is helpful to spot mormons...).  

Well those were my adventures with new people on the plane!  

fortune cookie

Do you believe in fortune cookies? Well this was one I got today---

"The mood is right for a friendly chat to lead to romance."

if only it were that easy....