Motivated

Well I have got to work a little harder on this blog and keep everyone up to date on what is happening here in the south west section of the country.  Alyssa motivated me with her blog post.  I love to hear how everyone is doing, especially now that I feel so detached from the family!
Hmm...what have we done since last November?  I guess the better question is what haven't we done!  It's been a busy year so far!

Flying to Utah for Mark's wedding

Heading to Idaho Falls for Christmas and New Year's

Finishing my first year as a Sports Medicine teacher here in California

Getting Steve through another year of school

Kicking off the summer with a Jensen family reunion in Utah, then heading to Idaho to spend time with the family

Coming home and exploring more of California with my husband over a nice relaxing summer break

First Shin family camping trip to Sequoia National Forest (including dutch oven cooking)

Hanging out with Mom and Dad at the Dodger game and various spots in LA

Phew! It's been a bust past few months!

There are so many things we have done that it would take me forever to upload all the pictures!  Thank goodness Steve does a good job with taking pictures and putting them on Facebook.  I've gotten so bad about taking pictures anymore.  Being married takes a lot of time :D but is totally worth every minute.  I'm going to try a little harder to document things, take more pictures, and just be more involved!

California is a pretty amazing place.  There are SO many things to see and do ALL the time.  I feel like Steve and I could spend our whole lives exploring California and never see all of it.  On the same note, I sure miss Idaho and the peace and quiet and scenery, but most of all my family and nieces and nephews!  Steve will be done with school in about a year and then we'll see where we end up.  It could be anywhere!  Bring on the adventures!

Uncharted waters!

So...it's been over a year since I last posted! And I have to say that as I was reading through my last blog I had to laugh! As for the online dating revolution, well I'm a believer, haha! I met my husband just over a year ago online, and now we have been married for 5 months on the 22nd of this month. I'm still a little shocked by the whole thing! 
The first time Steve wrote me, I remember thinking, "Wow, this guy writes like I do!" His letter was long compared to most guys, and he just told me exactly what was on his mind. No nonsense and no pretend flattery. It was refreshing. I wrote him back and he wrote back and we did that for a bit and the next thing I know he's coming to Idaho.  After a few more months and a few more visits Steve proposes on Christmas day and 6 months later we're married, June 22nd of 2013.

Married life is amazing.  Everyday I wake up and smile and feel grateful that I was blessed with such a kind and loving husband who tells me everyday that I am his life.  I am adjusting to California, where Steve and I now live. That has been the hardest part, haha!  I am definitely a woman who needs a quiet, beautiful spot with lots of pine trees to sit and contemplate. Here in LA, that is just about impossible to find! There are some very beautiful places, but quiet is one thing you won't find! I do however love being so close to the ocean! :) I also miss mom and dad and the brothers and their families, especially my sweet nieces and nephews. Whenever I'm away from them I always feel a little like I'm being cheated out of not getting to see them grow up. :'( Thank goodness for face time and Skype!!

Steve and I have been roaming all over southern Cali. I've tried so many different types of new foods! I can't believe I had never had Indian food before,or real Japanese ramen, or Korean BBQ!!! How did I live like that?!!!!! I've seen museums and real paintings by famous artists like van Gogh and Picasso. I've been to restaurants where celebrities hang out (haven't seen any yet though) and Steve even took me up to southern California's "forest" up at Big Bear. Phew!!! It's been a busy last few months but I have loved every moment.  The very best part though is spending all of those moments with Steve! He just makes everything WAY better!!!

Online Dating Revolution!

Everyone keeps telling me that the only way to meet a guy today is by joining an online singles site.  So I took the plunge this week and joined the revolution.  I don't know what to think about it.  It's kind of exciting I guess...waiting to see if anyone thinks you're picture is hot enough to want to get to know you.  Yeah, it totally sucks!  Kinda like trying to find a date in real life :(  You can sure tell the desperate guys at least.  You know what I'm talking about...those guys that send you a hundred messages to every one you send.  They're easy to spot, they're always saying that you're the most gorgeous, beautiful, amazing woman they have ever seen. Yeah sure honey, and how long has it been since you've had a date?  I'm sure it hasn't been as long as the last time I've had one...but you don't see me throwing myself at anyone that will give me the time of day.  Oh well, there are some cute guys that seem to be halfway decent to talk to, so I guess I'll give it a few more weeks.  Stay tuned, and if you're interested look me up on Plenty of Fish...or eHarmony...or...well, pretty much any singles site you can think of :)

Arizona ATC Conference

Finally something to report!!  Yee haw!  So this last week I went to Mesa for an athletic training conference.  I have to get 75 continuing education credits every three years in order to maintain my athletic training certification, and needless to say they are due this year and I have none!  So I went to Arizona to get some credits :)
I was planning to fly, but Mark couldn't get me a ticket in time, so I drove.  Yes...drove 15 hours to Mesa and 15 hours back!  It was actually not too bad.  I listened to Japanese lessons the whole way there and back, so...ima honto ni watashi wa nihongo ga daisuki desu!　今ほんとに私は日本語大好きです！    Let's see if anyone can figure that out!
So Arizona was AMAZING!  I had no idea it was such an arid place.  I heard that pretty much no one has grass, but I thought that it was just a trend there, I didn't know that they didn't have grass because it was too hard to maintain.  I was thinking it might be around 80 degrees, but the whole time I was there it was about 100 degrees!  In the spring!  That is crazy!
The conference was good and I learned so much, but the best part was seeing old friends and meeting new ones! 
I had the opportunity to stay with a couple from Idaho Falls who migrate to Mesa in the winter.  The Stakers!  We went swimming, they took me sight seeing and always made sure I had enough to eat.  This was the first time I had ever met them but they were great!  They treated me like a member of the family, and really made my trip an awesome one!  Thanks Lorraine and Brent!

I saw my very good friend and athletic training mentor Kristin Pond.  She is the athletic trainer I interned under at Pleasant Grove High School.  Seeing here made me miss living in Utah, so you know she is a special person ;)  We talked for probably 4 hours and she always motivates me to work harder!
I also met some guys from Japan who are graduate athletic training students at a university in Arizona.  I was looking at their research poster and they were standing there to answer any questions.  I noticed their names and asked if they were from Japan and they said they were.  I was so excited, but when it came to talk to them I totally froze up!  Haha!  I said "Hajimemashite, Jenni desu!"  Which means, nice to meet you, I'm Jenni, and then I totally froze and couldn't remember anything else!  They told me their names and then I just sort of stood there.  So awkward!  One of the guys finally said, "Do you have any questions about the project?"  I said, "Oh let me read it!"  I tried to read their poster and I couldn't concentrate on any of it!  LOL!  I said, "Looks really good!  Great job!"  Then I just sort of turned around and walked away!  Oh well, I will have to find someone else to practice Japanese with! :D

Anyways Arizona was a blast, and I'm so glad I could go!  If you haven't been you totally should...it is definitely a unique place!

A New Year!

Wow a whole new year to look forward to!  I was looking through my past year blogs and have to say...this past year has been pretty boring.  Unfortunately boring life = boring blog.  I'm thinking that I'm gonna have to start making things up in order to spice up the blog a little.  Would that confuse everyone?  Oh well, I guess I'll have to write about my boring life.
All the fam except Lynn and his family were here over Christmas.  Lynn and Alyssa had to stay in Portland because Alyssa was due with their third baby.  It sure gets crazy with all the family, but it was a blast to hang with everyone.  We had a lot of fun, but no snow!!  Sorta crazy for this time of the year.  In fact I'm looking out the window now and there is still no snow.  That is CRAZY!  Half way through January and no snow in Idaho Falls!  Of course I say that and tomorrow we'll get the storm of the century and I'll be mad I jinxed the nice weather.  No really I enjoy the snow.  I hate driving in it, but a whole winter without snow would be a shame.
Lynn and Alyssa's baby Adam Jorden Jensen was born on Dec 28th.  I haven't gotten to see him in person yet, but he sure is cute in his pictures!  Speaking of Portland, I sure do miss it there.  I really love that area and am doing all that I can to get back there sometime soon!  The hardest part about living there was being so far from the family, but now with Lynn and Alyssa living there, well it's just about perfect!  Anyways that is one of the things I hope comes in this new year, a move back to the most gorgeous place on Earth!
Well I think that's all I have to say...dang this boring life!  Someone save me!

Counting my blessings!

Wow, Thanksgiving time again!  Time for getting together with the family, eating lots of food, and remembering why I am so blessed!  I can't believe how easy it is to get caught up in all the things that have gone wrong over the past year.  I guess that's why it is good to have Thanksgiving, I need to remember that even though things don't always go the way I want them to, I still have so much to be thankful for.

Thanks to my family!  I love you soooooo much!  Without all of you who knows where I'd be.  I'm more than grateful for you being there when I need you most.  Love my friends who stand by me no matter how many idiotic things I do.  Someone who I don't talk to for a year, yet when we finally do see each other again it's like we were never apart!  That is a true friend!  A warm comfortable place to sleep, food to eat, the ability to work and earn money.  There is just so much!  I am truly blessed by a loving Heavenly Father.

More Spooky Stories

This story comes from Danielle from Hillcrest:
I heard that there is a tunnel in Shelley Idaho that is haunted.  They say if you go into the middle of the tunnel, turn your lights off and put your car in park they say your car will be moved by the devil spirits out the other side of the tunnel.  The people who have done it say they can see a red mist around the car as it moves.  (Some of the kids said they heard the same thing, but it seems none of them have ever been, so no one was real sure where exactly it was.)


Here is one from Kylee also from Hillcrest: 
There is an old cabin up in the Ririe (Idaho) foothills that is called Wolfman's Cabin.  The story is that a long time ago a farmer lived there with his family.  They were isolated, and after awhile the farmer started acting strange.  They say that the isolation from other people made him crazy.  He ended up killing his wife and kids and putting their bodies in a silo, then he killed himself.  The wolves got into the silo and dragged the body parts down into the town where they were found.  Now everyone says that the man comes back to haunt the cabin once a year on the day he killed his family.  Some of my friends knew where the cabin was, so we went driving one night to find it.  We were driving very slowly down the road because it wasn't a very good road when suddenly people started coming out of the trees that lined the road.  They looked scary, like they were zombies or high or something.  They surrounded our truck and started telling us to turn around because the place was evil.  I don't know what they were doing there in the middle of nowhere, but we were so scared.  We ended up turning around before we got to the cabin.  (One of my other students said he had been to the cabin and there were all sorts of satanic symbols all over the place.  SCARY!)