Second Annual Jenkins’ Thanksgiving… November 29, 2008

My family has lived in North Carolina for four and a half years now, and we’ve had four Thanksgivings here. Two have been at our wonderful neighbor’s house. They’re the Jenkins family, and basically they’re my family. Last year was an awesome Thanksgiving, and this year lived up to, if not surpassed the year before. A truly wonderful amazing holiday.

It got to spend the holiday with my Mom, Dad, Mark, Kathy, Mark’s brother Todd, Todd’s girlfriend Katie, and Todd’s friend Corey. Todd used to live down here, but he’d been living up in the mountains for a while, so it was awesome to see him again. I got to meet Katie and Corey, and they are both just amazing people.

We ate a ton of food. Played a lot of games. Punched each other  a lot. Laughed a lot. I got educated in some new music thanks to Corey. (Shout Out dude! I love my Cd’s) We even watched a movie on VHS. I didn’t even know people still had those. It was fun times.

This year’s Thanksgiving was one of the best ones ever, and not just for me. And I love that. I love that I got to be a part of this awesome family and just be around awesome people and just soak up all the awesomeness. (three awesomes in one sentence…bet you’re impressed)

And being around such amazing people with amazing life stories and transformations got me to thinking about what I’m really thankful for in my own life. And of course it’s a huge list…so here’s my top five:

1: The fact that I’ve got The Lord, my Savior, Jesus Christ in my heart guiding me through some of the most pivotal times and decisions of my life.
2: My amazing family/extended family/friends. I’ve got the most amazing group of people who are in my corner forever and always. People I know I can count on and will keep me accountable for my own actions. I’d do anything for these people, and they know it. 
3: The fact that I live in a wealthy nation. I know that sounds horrible, but seriously, I’m thankful that I have a nice house with heat and running water. That’s a luxury in a lot of places, and I’m very thankful I don’t live in any of them
4: My amazing church. I know it kind of goes hand in hand with number 1, but you can have Christ guiding you spiritually in a stagnant church. And I’m extremely thankful that Elevation is anything but stagnant. I love that it’s exciting and growing and pushing and bursting and loving. I don’t even know where my life would be with out it.
5: Last but not least and kind of cheesy…but my job. A lot of people hate their jobs every single day. And I won’t lie, some days I don’t feel like going, but for the most part…i love it. I have fun, i meet cool people, my co-workers are awesome, and I make enough money to pay for school and and have fun. I’ve had crappy jobs, but stool pigeons isn’t one of them, and to any of my co workers that reads this…i’m thankful for you =]

So yay for thanks giving. I’d list forever…and if you read my blog you know this. But I will stop at five, only because it’s almost midnight and I should really sleep before work tomorrow. And I’m super sleepy too…all that turkey is finally catching up with me. Darn tryptophan. (And if you weren’t impressed by my three awesomes before, be super impressed I spelled that right on the first try!!!)

 

 

…what are you thankful for?

Sorry. November 27, 2008

Sorry I’ve been super neglectful of my blog lately…i’ll be back sometime in the very near future to post something forrealllls. Happy Thanksgiving!!

IT’S OFFICIAL!!!! November 7, 2008

I just got back from a celebratory lunch out with my mom. Our cause for celebration? I just got back from my admissions meeting with the Aveda Institute. And guess what!! I GOT IN. I passed the entrance test, which was all that I really needed to do since she had already decided that I was accepted.

I’m fully enrolled. I payed for my kit today and my enrollment. I picked out my first two Aveda Shirts that come with my kit. And I am totally excited about life right now. My official first day is March 18th and I’ll be finished by march of next year!!!!

Oh man, I am so excited. I can’t wait to start school. It’s a whole new chapter in my life. And it’s all just beginning!!!!

HEY YOU! November 4, 2008

Yeah, that’s right I’m talking to you. If you’re 18 years of age, are not a convicted felon and are registered to vote…you better make some time in your schedule today to go vote for yor chosen candidates.

I don’t care if you vote ObamaBiden or McCainPalin. But you better drive your happy self down to your assigned voting facility and cast a ballot. I got up at 6:30 this morning, brushed my teeth, put on pants and voted. So no excuses people.

It’s your right and your responsibility as an American citizen, so get out there and do it! And remember, if you don’t vote, for the next four years you don’t get validly complain about anything going on in this wonderful (and a little messed up) nation.

Don’t suck. GO GET YOUR VOTE ON!!!

The Change Starts With Me. November 2, 2008

I’ve kind of always wanted to change the world. I have a lot of friends who got really involved in a lot of different causes in high school. A lot of friends who got really into green living, a few who got really involved in the Save Darfur Coalition, some who began supporting Fair Trade, a bunch that were really active in To Write Love on Her Arms, and some miscellaneous causes here and there. Through out high school I was very exposed to amazing causes that were reaching people all over the world.

A few times I tried to initiate activism in people who weren’t exposed to it before, but most of the time I didn’t get enough momentum to really get things going. And this discouraged my own personal ambitiousness. My friends who were involved were all scattered, and so we all just kept up with things for our selves and didn’t really do a whole a lot to involve each other and really set things in motion. But I’m tired of reading about things other people are doing in the world, and I’m ready to actually be the change that needs to happen in this totally screwed up world.

My pastor preached today about thinking inside the box. It was a economic sermon, but it really can be applied to any type of change. If you only think out side the box, you’re thinking about the things that you have no control over, but if you focus on what inside your own personal box, you have the ability to change your self and the things you do have control over. The change begins with what I have. It begins with me.

As a Christian, I am to be a leader of change. Change for a better life. For a better world. I don’t need other people to initiate the change. All I need is me and my own momentum. And I’m ready to finally be active. I’m ready to put into motion all the things that I want to personally accomplish.

I want to be more environmentally conscious. Recycle more efficiently. Use less non-renewable resources. That means no more Styrofoam cups a work. I want to buy locally grown produce. Drive less. Carpool more. Conserve energy. Go Green. Saving the Earth is extremely important. And little things in my daily life can make a huge difference. With out any body else I know adapting their lifestyles to a greener one, I will still make a difference in the long run. And maybe if people see what I’m doing and how easy and cost effective it is, they’ll follow suit.

I also want to solve all the worlds problems. Those going on in Sudan, India, South America, Uganda, and so many more. But I can’t travel, so I’m committed to making Charlotte a better place. There’s so much poverty all over the world, but there’s people in my own city who go to sleep at night on park benches and under overpasses. There’s many different kinds of need out there, and they all happen with in a 30 mile radius of where I live. There’s so much good to be done in the place I am, and until I’m in a position to travel the world, I want so much to be a part of the good stuff here.

And I’m ready to take my faith to a new level. I don’t regularly study the Word. I study enough of it that I know my way around a Bible, but I’m ready to know it inside and out. This is very important if I’m to lead a smallgroup of young girls in a Christ Centered way through middle school and into high school. The next level for me is to be so accustomed to referring to the Bible for problem solving that it comes naturally when I help others with what they’re going through in their lives. I feel that I’ve been called to minister to middle school girls, but I’m not ready to acquire my own smallgroup. However, I am very ready to prepare my fields for the rain I’m praying for.

I’m very excited about this sudden burst of energy. Tomorrow I intend to read up on all the causes I got unacquainted with lately, a few new ones, and really look at local opportunities to do good. And tonight I intend to begin really studying the Bible. I feel as though I have a lot of potential in me and I’m finally ready to see that potential really realized. I want to do well in life, and I think doing well and doing good should go hand in hand. Its time for me to do good and embed that in my daily life so that when it’s time to makes the decisions that will cause me to do well, they also cause me to do good.

If I lost you there, I’m sorry. Short and sweet: a lot of people sacrifice doing good by human kind in order to reach success and get ahead in their personal life. I never want that to be me. If a decision is going to make me successful, but take advantage of another, I don’t want to make that decision. If more people adapted that mentality the world would be a different place. But I can’t control what other people do. All I can control is myself and my own actions. This starts with me. The Change Starts With Me.