March Makeover

Well I suppose it's time for another one of these. March....good month! My favorite in fact. Yes, my birthday month. Just turned 30 on March 9th! Wow! I really can't believe it. How can I be 30 years old? I still feel like I'm about 18 most of the time! Does that ever change? It was a good birthday, not much happened, but that is what I wanted. The first person to wish me happy birthday on my birthday was a kid from school, texted me early Monday morning. My sweet students! Wow, they have no idea how hard it's going to be for me to leave them! Besides working, the only thing I really did was get my hair colored and cut. After school I just decided I needed a change and went to the mall. I decided to go dark brown. A little scary, since my hair has never been dark, but...it turned out great! All the kids at school have been telling me they love it, so now I do too! I took a picture of myself to show my friend Shireen, it didn't turn out great since you can't see the cut too well, but you can see the color. I figured everyone is reading those Twilight books, so dark hair is in now, right? I don't know, you'll have to tell me what you think about it (but no comments on my extremely messy room!

Being single...

Well I really don't have anything in particular to write about. But I guess seeing that it's a Saturday night, and I don't have anything to do....
I was talking to one of the kids at school yesterday about relationships. He mentioned that he wanted a girlfriend so that he could have someone to tell everything to. I told him he was too young to want a serious relationship, he should just be trying to have fun and not worry about getting all settled down with one girl. I got the feeling that he felt that life would be better if he had a girlfriend to share it with. Anyways it got me to thinking about my own life. I have felt that same way a lot, but I couldn't offer this guy any good advice because I don't know if life would be better if there was someone else to share it with. I'm a little embarassed to admit it, but I've never had a boyfriend. It's not like I didn't/don't want a boyfriend, there just has never been anyone interested(that I know of at least.) I keep wondering if it's my personality, the way I act, or maybe the way I look (which is the reason I usually go with.) Whatever it is, here I am 29 years old, and still I have never even been kissed. When the kids at the high school I athletic train at ask me about my boyfriends, I tell them the truth, and they can't comprehend how I could go my whole life without a boyfriend. I guess it hasn't been too bad because I have never known anything different.
Here are a few observances I've made in my single state. 1. Guys are easy to talk to. I'm sure it's because I grew up in a family with six brothers and no sisters, but I can usually keep a conversation going with a guy because I know what they like to talk about (with exception of my Irish pen pal. Cathal, I'm gonna say it's because you're Irish ;o) 2. All the guys that I have made an effort to get to know have turned out to be good friends...period. Sometimes I think that the guy might be showing interest, and then....wham, they hit me with the, "you're a really great friend Jenn, do you think you can hook me up with so and so?" What is up with that? Is that the easy way for a guy to say, "Hey I see you're starting to like me a little bit, so I'm letting you know I'm not interested." 3. I'm really naive about relationships. I have no clue how to tell if a guy is interested in me or not. And I have no idea how I'm supposed to act if a guy does show interest. Do I change the way I act? All I know how to do is be a friend. Is that wrong? Am I supposed to do something else to let a guy know I'm interested? 4. I know that if I like a guy I turn into a total idiot when he's around. I say stupid things and start to blush when he looks at me too long. I know this has to be bad, how in the heck do you stop that?!
Anyways there you go. That's what you get when I have way too much time on my hands! Hopefully next time I'll think of something worthwhile to write about.

What's in a name?

My parents named me Jennifer. I am the only kid in my family that got more than a one syllable name (interesting fact.) Funny thing is I don't get called by that name very often. When I was younger, most everyone called me Jenni; my family, the people at church, the kids I went to school with, almost everyone. Once I left home to go to college, I wanted to put my younger self behind me, so I started to call myself Jennifer. Nobody knew me as Jenni anymore. As I got to know people at college, I became Jenn. After college I found a job as an athletic trainer at a high school. Again I introduced myself as Jennifer, but before too long, everyone started calling me Jenn. So I'm back here in my hometown working in a high school, but instead of calling me Jenni, everyone now calls me Jenn. I never really sat down and thought about it until today, when one of the kids at school called me Jenni. I don't know why, but it seemed so strange for him to call me Jenni. It felt like he was calling me "sweetie" or "honey" instead of Jenni. I don't know, I guess it's sort of hard to explain. It's been so long since I've been called Jenni and the people that called me that were the people that knew me better than anyone else. So now when someone calls me Jenni, it's like an endearing little nickname, almost too familiar for just anyone to call me. I suppose that's why it seemed so strange when this kid at school called me that. It must have shown on my face because he looked at me and said, "is that all right, if I call you Jenni or do you prefer Jenn?" So as I've been sitting here thinking about it, I've decided that yes, I like being called Jenni. Maybe it's because now that I'm actually getting older I want to feel younger:0), or maybe it's just because it makes me feel more loved. As a last little sidenote some people do call me Jennifer, funny that those people happen to be my very best friends!

A Christmas to Remember

So I wasn't really that excited to go to Puerto Rico for Christmas this year. My brother that is living here in Puerto Rico is moving back to Idaho in a week, and I didn't really know what to expect. All I knew is that there would be no snow, no sitting by the fire, no sledding, no big family gathering. I was worried that it wouldn't really feel like Christmas. Everyone told me I was crazy, who would give up two weeks of tropical beaches for an Idaho snow storm?! Well definitely not me, because here I am in Puerto Rico. Now I'm getting ready to head back to Idaho, back to snow and icy roads and I've been reflecting on my experiences here in Puerto Rico.
I am sad to be leaving, I mean I love going to the beach and seeing new places, and people and cultures. I've had a wonderful time here, but in truth I am happy to go back to Idaho too. The big question, did it feel like Christmas? Well being truthful, no it didn't. Christmas day seemed to pass like any other day here. We tried to do all the regular Christmas activites, but come on would you really feel like it's Christmas as you sat on a sandy tropical beach? I had fun, but no, it didn't feel like Christmas to me. I felt like we kinda skipped over Christmas. Sad, but I'm ok with that. I wouldn't have traded the experience for anything. We took a trip to Flemenco Beach yesterday on the island of Culebra. I found a quiet spot and just sat and watched the waves. The water was so blue, it reminded me of Hawaii. There were a lot of people there, but the beach was so huge I didn't feel crowed at all. It was so peaceful and beautiful, I wished that Idaho had a tropical island!
Anyways I have loved this trip and I'm so thankful I was able to come here to Puerto Rico. Unfortunatly now I'm ready to see more of the world!! I need more money!

Dreaming of a White Christmas

I can't believe that Christmas is already upon us! The months have flown by since school started. Maybe it's just one of those things that start to happen when you get old. I remember when I was younger, it seemed like a week would last FOREVER! I'm excited for Christmas this year. . .though that's not saying much because I'm excited for Christmas every year. This year I'm headed to Puerto Rico to spend the holidays with my brother and his family. Yes I know, but I'm sure you wouldn't fit in my bag! I can't wait to come home with a tan after lying on the beach for two weeks! It should be fun, though I'm wondering what it will be like to have Christmas in a tropical paradise. I don't think I've ever had a Christmas without the snow/cold weather, well that I can remember at least. I keep worrying that it won't feel like Christmas, but I started thinking the other day that it's not really the snow that I love about Christmas. I love the way people treat each other during the Christmas season, and I don't think that you have to have snow to experience that. You don't even have to have presents (which is good because my one and only present this year is going to Puerto Rico!) All you really need is to remember the true meaning of Christmas, and that you can see everywhere.

An athletic trainer's thoughts on her football team

It was 4 months ago I came back to Hillcrest High School after an amazing summer vacation. I really didn't want to go back, I knew what was waiting for me. Don't get me wrong, I love my job. Being an athletic trainer is almost like a dream job. . .well if it paid a little more at least. No the reason I didn't want to go back was not because I didn't like my job, it was because I didn't think I could handle another football season at Hillcrest.
Football season was always the same: I would show up for two-a-days and after a day or two the players would start coming to the athletic training room. One or two at first, and by the end of the third week it would be six or seven. Some would have serious injuries, but most I couldn't find a problem. I would try to help them the best way I knew, but a week later they would be back in the athletic training room complaining again. It was so frustrating! How do you help someone that isn't really injured? How do you heal someone that doesn't want to get better?
So here comes August 2008, my fourth football season at Hillcrest. We have a new coach, but I'm used to that. Three different football coaches in four years, yes, that is no big deal to me. It would seem abnormal to have the same coach at this point. . .but something is different. At first I can't put my finger on it, but after just a couple of days I see it. The players are different. Not different players, most of them are the same guys that were there the year before, but they are different. . .different on the inside. They are working harder, they are listening better, they are helping each other, they are more motivated, and they are not coming to the athletic training room. After two days of football practice I knew this season was going to be different, I just didn't realize how different it would really be!
To my football team I would like to say thank you. Thank you for making me like football season again. Thank you for being the sweet, wonderful guys you are. Thank you for letting me be a part of your team. But most importantly, thank you for showing me that anything is possible if you believe in yourself and those around you. You have truly inspired me. Go Hillcrest Knights, 2008 State Football Champions!!!! Wahoo!