Halloween Nostalgia

People always ask about family traditions and special things your family does ever year. My family didn't have too many of those, but one always comes to mind around this time of year. Every year on Halloween my mom would make the same thing for dinner. Chili mac. Basically this consists of chili and macaroni noodles with cheese on top. My mom says that's just what she would make because it was easy and fast. Every year when it comes close to Halloween, my body tells me that I should be eating chili mac soon. I still hold true to this tradition and guess what is for dinner tonight? That's right. I can't make it tomorrow because we'll be at the family game night at church. I will be dressing up as a farmer for my students tomorrow. I have never dressed up as a farmer before. I think its fun to dress up. Everyone at work seems to think of it as a drag and something they are forced to do. I think it's especially fun for the children to see their teachers all dressed up. I hope everyone has a fun and safe Halloween!

P.S. I hope nobody smashes my pumpkins again like last year. =(

My trip to Denver

Last week, my husband and I were able to go to Colorado to visit Gina. We had great time with her, her husband and his family. The Mitchel's were wonderful hosts. They recently made their guest room so they were excited for their first guests to stay in it. They even fed us breakfast everyday! It was fun to explore a new place as well. Denver was not what I expected looking from the airplane. It looked pretty flat and empty. As we drove into Denver from the airport though, I got a glimpse of the beautiful mountains. It was a perfect time of year to visit. Cloudy skies, warm temperatures and beautiful changing leaves. Autumn is a beautiful time of year. One of the coolest stores we visited in Downtown Denver was called The Tattered Cover. It's an awesome book store; better than Barnes & Nobel and Borders put together. They had a huge assortment of magazines and a really cool children books area. There are comfy bean bags on the floor where you can get cozy with a nice book.

We also went to the Botanical Gardens, which was just beautiful. If you ever go to Denver, its totally worth it to go. Another fun thing was going to Colorado Springs. It was a little bit of a drive but worth it. We visited Focus on the Family, Garden of the Gods, and fossil beds. Our last day we took a tour of the Celestial Tea Factory in Boulder. That was pretty cool too. You have to wear hairnets. Lol. It was cool to see how they make the tea. We got to go in a special room where they keep the mint, and it was super powerful! It made my eyes water!

They had a great Tea Shop, and you could sample any of their teas for free! I bought some cold brew tea- passion fruit flavor! I highly recommend this tour as well! We had a great time in Denver. I can't wait to go again!

Another year gone by

Two weekends ago now was my birthday! I am now 26. It's funny how our society views getting older as bad but I enjoy it. I always find it refreshing to think upon my last year and see how I've grown and changed. I am so blessed to have wonderful friends and a loving family, a godly husband and a church family that loves and supports me in my Christian walk. God is so good! I am also very thankful to my pastor, who's last two weeks of sermons have been amazing. I am so blessed to have a wonderful and supportive church. Not many people will willingly offer to bring you to the airport or have you over for dinner. It breaks my heart to hear of other friends who don't have that. A Christian walk is not meant to be walked alone. It's impossible!

This is the shortened version of what I have been meaning to type up from over a week ago. I haven't been so good at updating once again! Shame on me!

A reminder to us all

Life is so short. Today I found out a friend of mine passed away at 27 years old. He was going hiking, something he loved to do and had no idea it would be his last. I break my heart to hear this news. I know he was a true believer in Christ and loved the Lord. He had a heart to serve others, and an undeniable joy. I am reminded today of memories of him, and other old friends I have lost touch with.

Life is so short in comparison to our eternal lives. We should always remember that every day is a gift from God. We have no guarantees of tomorrow.

I am just reminded of that today.

Ikea Day

Today we went to Ikea, which is always an adventure. I enjoyed looking around the show rooms, had some Swedish meatballs, and bought some glasses and a garlic press. We finished off the trip on a sweet note- I had a $1 frozen yogurt cone and Jonathan had a cinnamon roll, also $1.

I started reading New Moon (second of the Twilight books) today, and I also watched two movies: 21 and Penelope. I enjoyed both of them. I also went to my two favorite classes at the gym tonight, so I'm feeling pretty good! Today was a pretty great day. I keep forgetting about going to work on Friday. Actually, I like not thinking about that! Praise God for the simple little things in life that make each day fun!

Weekend Update

This past week was really long. Really long. I can't seem to sleep enough to catch up with my tiredness. I had training for work Monday through Friday then went straight to family camp. I had a good time of fellowship up there and got to sleep in a tent, which is always fun. We came back on Saturday, cleaned up and went to bed fairly early. Got up for church today and I had the privilege of teaching children's church. We talked about Noah and the flood, and how God loved Noah by protecting him and his family and providing for them. Noah showed his love to God by obeying Him and praising Him for his care. I think the kids were more entertained by the flannel board animals and making all the noises that the animals make. It got a bit noisy. =)
Tonight at church, Pastor showed another cool science movie about atom bombs. Now I'm at home eating some blueberry yogurt. Jonathan and I have the next three days off together. We don't have too much planned but it should be fun. I get to meet all of my students on Friday on our parent orientation day. I'm hoping its going to be a great school year.

A little bit of everything

I had a lot of fun last week, having no work. Well, I take it back. I put in 6 hours of cleaning/disinfecting toys. Other than that I had a great week going shopping in San Fransisco, Gilroy (Bonfonte) Gardens and Santa Cruz. I also hung out with some good friends and family and watched a lot of tv.

On Friday I went to my parents house to watch the Opening Ceremonies of the Summer Olympics. It was amazing! I loved it. I was so impressed with how Beijing puts on a show. Of ocurse I am excited about it too because I have been to China twice and I can actually say- "I've been there!". China has always had a special place in my heart because of my trips there and I am always reminded how many people there haven't heard the gospel. Seeing all of the nations coming together in one arena, more than half countries I have never even heard of (shame on me), I am also in mind of how many missionaries there are out there, living in really tough environments. It is so easy to sit in Gilroy in my little church, having a church buliding, having a safe place to worhsip and learn about God with not much fear of being presecuted, as many in this world do.
I am so blessed the live here in America, where I have freedom of religion and freedom of speech to preach the good news of Jesus Christ and his redeeming grace. I just got home from my first day of training for work, and we talked a lot about American values, something the school really likes to focus on. The man speaking made a comment that our values, our rights were not something that are created by man, or our government. He's absolutly right. Our rights, our freedom are given to us by our Creator. The same God who created gravity and magnetism- something we can learn about and explain but man cannot make. This was something that was mentioned in a video we watched last night at church.

I hope all this jumble makes sense. I just felt like a lot was on my mind and I needed to get it all out!! That is why I could not think of a better title for this random blog.

Summer Reading

Having more free time this summer has left my schedule open for more of three things.
1. Going to the gym
2. Matching movies
and 3. Reading Books.
Pretty exciting, huh? =) My goal for a while has been to read all of the Newbery Award Winners. Some I had read when I was younger, so I already crossed those out. Some of the ones I read this summer have been The Higher Power of Lucky, Out of the Dust, The Tale of Despereaux, Walk Two Moons, and The Bronze Bow. They have all been interesting in their own ways. I just finished The Bronze Bow which takes place during the time Jesus was on earth, which was pretty intersting. I also liked The Tale of Despereaux which is soon to be a movie. It kind of reminds me of a Pixar type of story. The mouse that is different than all the others and takes an interest in humans...hmm Ratatoulille?? One thing I have noticed is that things are a lot different in 2007 than they were in 1922 (the first year an award was given), even in the style of literature.

I am taking a break from my goal to read Twilight. Shelly told me I have to read it, and Shelly and I have similar taste so I trust her. I guess these books have become kind of a big deal. Yetserday there were people in line at Barnes and Nobel at 2 in the afternoon. The fourth book of the seires was being released at midnight. Wow. People are crazy! It's like Harry Potter all over again. Which I also got sucked into reading...and finished the whole series. I am so glad when I read those though that I didn't have to wait so long to get the next book. I just went to the library and they had tons.

Well, Jonathan is at Starbucks right now, preparing for tomorrow's Sunday School lesson. Off to the the gym I go!

Back in the saddle again!

Hello out there! It's been too long. Its been so long, I forgot my password. I decided a new look would be appropriate too. This new one has two things I like: 1. Teal 2. Nature looking things. Should I have changed the name to Jamie's Bogus Journey? What do you think?

I have no good excuse why I haven't written in so long. This summer is almost over already! It went by too fast. The beginning of the summer was really busy but fun. I went to two amazing weddings: 1. Paul and Katharyn Ellsworth on June 28 and 2. Jeremy and Jodi Frick on July 13. Speaking of weddings, I also celebrated my two year anniversary of being Mrs. Henthorn. Two years also flies by, but it has been an amazing two years. My husband is the best. We are crazy and weird together but I love it. I actually feel like we are one person. Just the other night I forgot for a second that someone else was there next to me.

In honor of our anniversary we went to Disneyland! I love Disneyland and I could write millions of blogs about how awesome it is. One of the best parts was going on the new Toy Story Mania ride at California Adventures. It's super fun and in 3-D.
I also saw some awesome movies this summer.
1. Wall-e!!!!!
I loved it. It made me cry.
2. The Dark Knight!
I loved it but it didn't make me cry.
3. Mamma Mia.
It made me cry from laughter. I'm sorry, but Pierce Brosnan- you can't sing. The musical is better of course, but the movie is fun. Take your mom or best girl friend to see it. Guys stay home. =)

Ok well, I feel better now that I wrote. I hope someone still reads this.

P.S. Pictures of my summer fun can be found at flickr.com.