"Without even a head to comfort him..."

Blog family! I feel like i haven't blogged in 200 years....but really more like 12 or so days.

To start with, a quick rundown:
Movies you should see:
I Am Legend (Will Smith, very good)
The Painted Veil (Edward Norton, pretty dang good)

Also, Christmas was awesome! I had a really good holiday this year, even though poor Michelle Pickleface wasn't here... it was still very nice, plus my brother and Erin were in Utah this year, so that was an excellent bonus. Working with the peace house provided some really cool opportunities that I wouldn't have had otherwise, for which i am really grateful. presents rock, but so does kindness, right?

There is a small (big) project underway, and i need everyone's help! If you have any pictures from our years in high school together, you should definitely try to get them to me! i can borrow printed, old-school kinds which i will return, you can email them to me, or perhaps most convenient of all, post them on your blog and i will simply steal them with pleasure! this would be really helpful and in the end it will turn out really cool. gracias.

I got my wisdom teeth out today! It was kind of nerve-wracking, i must say--the wait at least. I had to make myself unclench my fists on the ride to PC. in hindsight, i'm not actually sure what i was nervous about. but still. they numbed my arm a bit, then put the iv in. (not nearly as big as my last encounter with a needle!) i got a nice oxygen mask, and while i was trying to tell if i could recognize any difference between pure oxygen and the air we breathe, lots of people walked in, and commented on things such as my christmas ("it was really good, yeah."), my straight, nice teeth (oh, haha, those. well thanks), and finally those "sweet babies" which turned out to be my wisdom teeth. i guess some are more fond of them than others. who knows? anyway, i was concentrating on determining the exact point when the anesthesia kicked in, and the next thing I know, the nurse and my mother are trying to wake me up. what a strange experience...my mom asked why i was staring at her like that, but her image kept floating off of the plane of her body. after a few minutes, i felt less woozy, although still wobbly, and we started to make our way to the car. morgan and her mom were in the waiting room (i realized this when she started laughing), so i stopped to "talk" or whatever would come next, but I had no rational words to say or any comments for her. i just felt really, really out of it. apparently there was gauze in my mouth, which was completely numb, but when Morgan asked, all I could say was "I don't know," and then make my way on. After I got home, i slept for awhile, then ate a little bit of pudding stuff which watching the office. and then...... hannah came over! i was very excited about this, she being the only one out of a few people who actually came to see me like they said. not that i'm bitter. lol.

anyway, that's about how my break has gone so far. see you all soon, i'm sure.

Love, Jennifer

musings on the english world

So, AP English. It's kind of dramatic to me. Haha. But seriously.

It's been a weird process this year. I've totally realized that most of all the things we "learned" in previous English classes basically suck and aren't applicable anymore. And that those classes were ridiculously easy, even when they seemed hard. About 55% of the time now, I leave class realizing I'm not so good as I thought I was, and that sucks. It's pretty depressing, actually.

Like the essay I wrote on Cold Mountain, where I totally thought I covered my bases very well and explained my points logically and intelligently, and generally just did a really good job. But then I get it back and I got a 5 out of 9. Yeah, that's an F. But the strange thing is, I'm getting used to it, and as opposed to the past, where this kind of thing would just infuriate me and I'd stop being open minded about criticism, I can take it now. So instead of freaking out and giving up, I took it and rewrote it today, and at least it's better. I don't know if it's right, but it's better. And in the past? Yeah, no drafts at all. Went straight from idea in my head to finished paper. Now I rewrite my papers and elaborate my ideas until they're good.

This all sounds kind of superfluous and pointless, but it's really not. I've finally been broken down and torn off my throne of good writing. I'm not naturally a perfect writer, surprise! I have to work at it, which I now realize. The thing is, I can actually learn something now. And that's really exciting to me; maybe that makes me a nerd, but I don't really care! Finally I feel like I'm not leaving high school empty-handed. I have to actually think in this class, and we've had the best discussions of my three years at Wasatch. It's not just about English, it's about universal ideas and feelings and all sorts of good stuff. I started out thinking I would hate everything expected of me, but at this point I'm so, so glad I can't get away with average. It's really nice. Hard, challenging, but nice.

Love, Jennifer

I can't believe I wrote all this on English. Haha. Lame. Oh well.

Three French Hens

Well! It's December and snowy and getting so close to Christmas! I love it. Today I spent the morning doing sub for santa/holiday helpers gift buying and wrapping...it was kind of an odyssey. I was designated as Park City shopper, so a sophomore named Tyler and I perused our way around buying gifts for about eight people. It was kind of an intense shopping trip...a lot of stuff to buy in a pretty short amount of time. And it's probably the most I've ever spent at one store at once. Like $600. It was crazy, and a lot of fun actually.

We got back to Heber and finished wrapping everything with the help of everyone. And then there was pizza and much joy and happiness. So it was nice. And things like this are what I really, actually like about Christmas. Not having a pile of stuff on Christmas morning. It's the really good feeling you get because no matter who you are, Christmas is a time of loving people and being the best people we can to everyone. And just generally feeling good most of the time.

Love, Jennifer

PS--Never try to get any information out of Travis! All you'll get is some cryptic clues that make you think of towels.

Happy First Snowfall

Love, Jennifer