Well - its only a few more weeks til school is done and then OEX and then wedding and then staff conference and honeymoon and then right back to school. I think im moving through life a bit too fast (gotta enjoy the moment, right?) but right now the time seems to be flying by.
At the same time - time seems so slow. Im excited to get married and have all the planning and waiting done with. But i think once OEX is done it will zoom right by.
it seems like i just moved in to the place im at now and havent completely unpacked just to pack up again. i havent moved so often ever in my life!
But we have got an apt. on the third floor in the middle of staff friends and the school. its a great amount of space and we can even move in early - before we have to leave for project! its going to work out really well i think.
sorry i dont keep this up very well - but i was tagged by Ben to write five things people don't know about me:
1) i really like receiving gifts - some people know this...but it's true! they make me feel special
2) i've never had a driving ticket or a mark on my insurance but i have hit a deer!
3) i'm pretty lousy at any sport with an implement (ie. racquets, sticks, golf clubs...)
4) i cut all my sister's hair off when i was 4 years old
5) i was named (partly) after the jenny in "Chariots of Fire"
that's all i could think of. hope at least one of those things was new!
i now tag...debbie and jill wenger
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Sunday, February 18, 2007
And so it begins...
Well, i will now take some time to post the story...so here goes. :)
We had talked about getting married for a while and we had planned to get engaged sometime in January. But January came and went as we waited for the ring to be made. Ben needed to drive about 1.5 hours away to pick it up (with my car) and so i knew he didn't have it yet. I had also suggested earlier that we get engaged on Valentine's day but at the time he thought it was cheesy so i wasn't really expecting it that night.
We babysat for Eric and Dawn to start off the night and once they were back from dinner we went out ourselves "chez Ben" for a (wonderful) home-cooked meal of Ben's secret potent recipe - chicken alfredo manicotti. ("works everytime" says Ben). He bought me flowers and some sparkling grape juice which we shared while we waited for the manicotti to cook. I gave him a Valentine's day present and he told me he had a secret one for me but i couldn't have it until later on that night. (hmm...)
Dinner was great but i kept wondering why he was acting so quiet and distracted. I finally asked him what he was thinking about and he said "nothing much" and i said "you seem sooo tense?!"
But we finished dinner and braved the cold for some skating in Victoria Park. I've been wanting to go skating with him for a while but he doesn't have skates but it was so cold that i suggested not going at all. But Ben insisted (oddly) that we just have to go...so that was fine with me and we went. For five minutes. The skates didn't fit so after a couple rounds of skating he asked if we could stop and go for a walk instead. THIS was the clincher! Ben doesn't usually suggest walks especially in the cold, i usually want to walk - he usually wants to drive! I accepted the suggestion though and off we went.
The conversation was getting more tense now and we just made some small talk until Ben suggested we stop at a certain place. He got out a poem he had written for me (non-rhyming) and began to read it. It's my new favorite poem - and i won't tell you what it says. ;)
At the end of it he told me that 27 years ago my dad gave my mom a ring and that he had a symbol for me of two lives and two families coming together. He got down on one knee and said "Jen Clarke, will you marry me?"
I said "YES!" right away - and after some hugging etc. he put the ring on my finger and we called my mom from the place she and my dad got engaged so long ago. :)
Ben is a wonderful and godly man - I thank God for putting him at UWO and in my life in His good timing. God is sooo good to me. I couldn't ask for a better boyfriend, fiance, or husband (as far as i know).
Jen Jolliffe...how does that sound, eh?
from our first date
We had talked about getting married for a while and we had planned to get engaged sometime in January. But January came and went as we waited for the ring to be made. Ben needed to drive about 1.5 hours away to pick it up (with my car) and so i knew he didn't have it yet. I had also suggested earlier that we get engaged on Valentine's day but at the time he thought it was cheesy so i wasn't really expecting it that night.
We babysat for Eric and Dawn to start off the night and once they were back from dinner we went out ourselves "chez Ben" for a (wonderful) home-cooked meal of Ben's secret potent recipe - chicken alfredo manicotti. ("works everytime" says Ben). He bought me flowers and some sparkling grape juice which we shared while we waited for the manicotti to cook. I gave him a Valentine's day present and he told me he had a secret one for me but i couldn't have it until later on that night. (hmm...)
Dinner was great but i kept wondering why he was acting so quiet and distracted. I finally asked him what he was thinking about and he said "nothing much" and i said "you seem sooo tense?!"
But we finished dinner and braved the cold for some skating in Victoria Park. I've been wanting to go skating with him for a while but he doesn't have skates but it was so cold that i suggested not going at all. But Ben insisted (oddly) that we just have to go...so that was fine with me and we went. For five minutes. The skates didn't fit so after a couple rounds of skating he asked if we could stop and go for a walk instead. THIS was the clincher! Ben doesn't usually suggest walks especially in the cold, i usually want to walk - he usually wants to drive! I accepted the suggestion though and off we went.
The conversation was getting more tense now and we just made some small talk until Ben suggested we stop at a certain place. He got out a poem he had written for me (non-rhyming) and began to read it. It's my new favorite poem - and i won't tell you what it says. ;)
At the end of it he told me that 27 years ago my dad gave my mom a ring and that he had a symbol for me of two lives and two families coming together. He got down on one knee and said "Jen Clarke, will you marry me?"
I said "YES!" right away - and after some hugging etc. he put the ring on my finger and we called my mom from the place she and my dad got engaged so long ago. :)
Ben is a wonderful and godly man - I thank God for putting him at UWO and in my life in His good timing. God is sooo good to me. I couldn't ask for a better boyfriend, fiance, or husband (as far as i know).
Jen Jolliffe...how does that sound, eh?
from our first date
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Frog's legs?
Hannah and I had frog legs a couple weeks ago. She had to talk me into it - and although i really like to try new food they just looked so human-like with little calves and thighs. sigh...
Anyway - Hannah seemed to like them. She said they taste like chicken!
Poor little frog!
Oh! i did it!
All done. a dead carcass on a plastic plate!
Thursday, February 08, 2007
A blog boost
Yay for the new format of blogging. I'm so glad they're making it easy for me. It's inspired a little blog boost. eh?
This is a promotion of the link on the side that you should just try at least once. Especially if you're feeling discouraged. the "automatic encouragement" link.
c'mon...try it just once :)
and i'm curious - how do you just add a link to the words you write in the post so that someone just clicks "here" and it goes to the link? that seems very mysterious to me.
This is a promotion of the link on the side that you should just try at least once. Especially if you're feeling discouraged. the "automatic encouragement" link.
c'mon...try it just once :)
and i'm curious - how do you just add a link to the words you write in the post so that someone just clicks "here" and it goes to the link? that seems very mysterious to me.
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
3 thoughts. not connected
1. sorry about the non-posting. I'll be honest...the last post has something to do with my lack of spare time for blogging and as it is lower on the priority list for me...it was one of the first to go. oh boys. :P
2. a (paraphrased) quote by Henri Nouwen that sticking with me from church.
Are we able (or willing?) to forgive the people in our lives who did not love us as well as we wanted to be loved?
I can't put quotation marks...but that idea is so true of me. I get upset when people don't love me the way i want to be loved. But then i remembered how I have never loved God the way that He wanted to be loved and He forgave me and loved me anyway. I'm so glad He did.
3. Another quote - reminds me of the idea of low-maintenance friendships and why they're so good.
"“The most beautiful discovery true friends make is that they can grow separately without growing apart.” Elisabeth Foley (i don't know who she is...but i liked the quote)
2. a (paraphrased) quote by Henri Nouwen that sticking with me from church.
Are we able (or willing?) to forgive the people in our lives who did not love us as well as we wanted to be loved?
I can't put quotation marks...but that idea is so true of me. I get upset when people don't love me the way i want to be loved. But then i remembered how I have never loved God the way that He wanted to be loved and He forgave me and loved me anyway. I'm so glad He did.
3. Another quote - reminds me of the idea of low-maintenance friendships and why they're so good.
"“The most beautiful discovery true friends make is that they can grow separately without growing apart.” Elisabeth Foley (i don't know who she is...but i liked the quote)
Sunday, November 05, 2006
So...who do you like? :)
ok ok...I'll tell you. It's Ben Jolliffe. We just started dating and I wanted to share! Now if I could just get back to my regular sleeping pattern.ps. sigh...:)
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