"Miss Representation": Official Trailer

This is a video done by Jennifer Siebel Newsom about how the media is portraying woman and how it is dramatically affecting our society. PLEASE visit the website... www.missrepresentation.org

Green Smoothies

I stumbled upon this brilliant woman named Robyn a few months ago...aka, the green smoothie girl. She is committed to living and teaching good health and is most famous for her green smoothies. My first attempt at a green smoothie was a few weeks ago and turned out very, very badly. I was trying to make them in a little cup-sized blender and messed up the portions of each ingredient I was suppose to add. Well a week ago I finally got motivated to try again....and it worked!! I can honestly say I've been drinking a quart of green smoothie every day and enjoying it. They taste good and are EXTREMELY healthy. I encourage anyone and everyone who is searching for methods to better health to give green smoothies a go, or at least to check out Robyn's website or blog. Drinking green smoothies clean out your system, assist weight loss, help eliminate/prevent numerous health problems, boost energy and are a simple and quick way to get your veggies!

Here is a recipe for first-time green smoothie makers that is similar to Robyn's. If you want to purchase her complete '12 Steps to Whole Food' booklet, you can find it on her website. It is pretty pricey but if you purchase the downloadable version it is only $49 and very worth the cost if you are committed to your health! It's more cheep then going to the doctor.

Easy First-Timer Green Smoothie Recipe

1¾ C water or juice (I use juice...%100 percent of course)
1 Tbsp. honey
1 10-oz. bag spinach (it looks like a ton, and it is, but it shrinks in the blender)
1 banana

2 C frozen mixed berries

1 peach, pear, apple, or orange

Blend all until very smooth. Pour in glasses and enjoy, or refrigerate for up to 48 hours. Makes about 3 pints. With the frozen berries it actually ends up looking purple which is much more appetizing then green. I've also experimented with collard greens, purple lettuce, romaine lettuce, and kale. Spinach blends the best (gets really smooth) in my blender. The others tend to make the smoothie kind of chunky. It doesn't bother me but might not be appealing to those of more finicky tastes. Don't give up if it doesn't work the first time! I've given mine to friends and siblings without mentioning the ingredients, and they down them just like my all-fruit smoothies.

The Beautiful Mess of a Child

"I brought children into this dark world because it needed the light that only a child could bring."

~Liz Ambruster

Walking into my room last night, I was greeted by a floor full of scattered crayons and a dozen white papers with the scribbles of my best 2-year-old friend, Eden. She'd spent most of the afternoon at my house, coloring and chasing around my 14-year-old brother and his friend. I've been Eden's nanny since she was an infant, and oh how her endearing smile and personality have brightened my life.

Instead of picking up the crayons and throwing away the pictures, I found myself stepping over them, a warm feeling swelling in my heart. In fact they are still on my floor today as I write this. As Eden has taught me about the wonders of childhood, I've learned to let go of stress and the imperfections of youth a bit more. I don't flip when I turn around in the car and she is yanking everything out of my wallet. I don't mind when she spalshes nail polish over my whole foot. I let her dig up as many worms as her little heart desires. I try to slow down and go her pace through the mall so she can walk on her own. I find a mess of crayons on the floor a pleasant reminder of the child playing there, verses another mess to clean up.

Don't grow up too fast, little girl.

Lonely

"The most terrible poverty is that of loneliness."

Hold on...where is the independent Jenna I always thought I was? Where's the Jenna that doesn't need anyone else? Where is the Jenna who will live a perfectly happy and fulfilled life while waiting for her prince to find her?

The truth is unveiled: That Jenna never existed.

It would seem I am not the type that is capable of being completely happy on my own. Because wow, people....I AM LONELY. Not the type of lonely that just anyone can cure, either. But the type of lonely that only that certain someone can remedy. Well, my dear prince, wherever you may be...I am excited to meet you. Perhaps I already know you. But I am excited to meet you. I am excited to make this a family blog where I can write about all of our adventures and post our adorable pictures. I'm sure you are off doing amazing things for the world, and that you are quite busy becoming the type of man you were sent here to be.

I do wonder if you ever think of me as I do of you...

Until God leads us into each others lives...I will do my best to make this time count. I'll try my hardest to let God mold me into the type of woman you need by your side. Sometimes the process is painful; growing usually is, but it is worth it for you. Hold on for me. You know, somehow, I already love you.

Don't wait too long to find me, okay?

Our Ability to Change

"Growth is the only evidence of life." ~John Henry Newman

I have been spending a good deal of time reading lately, and it feels like my mind is expanding and discovering truths that it's never grasped before. I know God has guided me to certain understandings, especially this past week. Through study of the scriptures, and curiously through a novel I was reading, he opened my mind and heart to comprehend better the ability for people to change and progress. It was profound and my description can't do it justice. But so often people are locked in the minds of others as essentially unchanging. But we are not built to remain in one state! The determined soul is capable of becoming whatever he sets his mind to become, most especially with the help of God and his grace, and often with the help of true friends. Repentance and forgiveness are tools to perfection, and gifts from a loving Father to his offspring.

Anyone with a lofty goal is bound to have failures and setbacks, but aren't those what make us stronger and better in the long run? Anyway that is just a little of what I feel about this concept, but it has really helped me to release and let go of worries and problems in the past, and helped me feel more apt to forgiveness. People can change. I believe almost everyone wants to be better. We must not hold them back by holding onto old images of who we think they are.

Each butterfly you see did not start out so beautiful.

"If you treat an individual as he is, he will remain how he is. But if you treat him as if he were what he ought to be and could be, he will become what he ought to be and could be."
— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

One last thought: Some of the most revered men of the scriptures made some awful decisions growing up. I try to think about this whenever I am tempted to doubt someone. Alma the younger and the sons of Mosiah sought to destroy the church...(Mosiah 27) and yet they became some of the greatest missionaries in history and changed the lives of thousands.

Matthew West - More

The is 'More' by Matthew West. When I first saw it I thought it was just a love song...but I was surprised and touched to listen and realize it was a very special type of love song...please listen and watch if you have time! It's beautiful.

Who Are We Living For

People are often unreasonable and self-centered.
Forgive them anyway
If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives.
Be kind anyway.
If you are honest, people may cheat you.
Be honest anyway.
If you find happiness, people may be jealous.
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have,
And it may never be enough.
Give your best anyway.
For you see, in the end it is between you and God.
It never was between you and them anyway.
-Mother Theresa of Calcutta

Today after church I was laying on my bed wanting to fall into a nice blissful nap and hopefully awake to find all my worries and concerns gone. Well, I was never able to even fall asleep. So I was laying there feeling rather bitter and quite horribly pessimistic about life, when I glanced at a picture of Christ on my wall. It was then the thought popped into my head:

You should read the scriptures.

I was like:

Mrg.

God was like:

No, really. You should read your scriptures.

I was like:

Maybe that's a nice idea...maybe this is just my head (and not God) thinking up good things to occupy my time with...

God was like:

Not likely.

I was like:

But...but....I'm lazy...mrg...

God was like:

.....and?

I was like:

...I should read my scriptures.

Somehow amidst all my pessimism God managed to pull me out of my bed and onto my knees, and then into the scriptures. I am ever so grateful for His patience with me. He is such an incredible father. I was able to find beautiful peace and a calm spirit as I read, and also an invigoration for the gospel and its role in my life. One of the moments that really stuck out to me was when I was in Doctrine and Covenants 20:5-6

"After it was truly manifested unto this first elder (Joseph Smith) that he had received a remission of his sins, he was entangled again in the vanities of the world; But after repenting, and humbling himself sincerely, through faith, God ministered unto him by an holy angel..."

What's this? Joseph Smith making some kind of mistake worth mentioning in this way? I was rather intrigued, and upon looking in the footnotes for further information, I was directing to Joseph Smith History chapter 1, verse 28:

"During the space of time which intervened between the time I had the vision and the year 1823--having been forbidden to join any of the religious sects of the day, and being of very tender years, and persecuted by those who ought to have been my friends and to have treated me kindly, and if they supposed me to be deluded to have endeavored in a proper and affectionate manner to have reclaimed me--I was left to all kinds of temptations; and mingling with all kinds of society, I frequently fell into many foolish errors, and displayed the weakness of youth, and the foibles of human nature; which, I am sorry to say, led me into divers temptations, offensive in the sight of God. In making this confession, no one need suppose me guilty of any great malignant sins. A disposition to commit such was never in my nature. But I was guilty of levity, and sometimes associated with jovial company, etc., not consistent with that character which ought to be maintained by one who was called of God as I had been. But this will not seem very strange to any one who recollects my youth, and is acquainted with my native cheery temperament."

I was touched by this verse, and felt admiration for this man. What an incredible writer, and a beautiful soul. He goes on to say in verse 29:

" In consequence of these things, I often felt condemned for my weakness and imperfections;..."

My heart lifted with a rise of sympathy, and wonder, that this great man felt somewhat the same as I! Next in the same verse he recounts the night Moroni appeared to him three different times. I can't quite explain how this makes me feel, but it restored a certain hope into my soul and mind that I AM OK. Yes, I am full of imperfections and weaknesses, but I want to be good. I am trying to be good. God understands, and waits with arms outstretched to embrace me. He will raise me up beyond what I can be on my own, as long as I endure and turn to Him in faith.

After I felt somewhat satisfied with my study, I dropped again to my knees to pray for some desperately needed wisdom. Some matters in my life are simple beyond my capacity to figure out, and I felt that decisions needed to be made, but I was hesitant to make them. Do you ever have those things you think about, but you wander through the thought process like it was a mine field littered with doubts and fears or scary possibilities that you try not to touch? It can be quite exhausting and often unproductive.


I went outside to breath some fresh air and ponder. I realized that a lot of the emotions I was dealing with that tied me down or clouded my soul, weren't even coming from me. They were coming from other people. A major portion of my stress was being fueled by someone else's worries, someone else's opinion, someone else's anger, etc. I didn't need to hold onto all of that. Because, as Mother Theresa said, it isn't between me and them. I may find worth in the wisdom of others, when God leads me to it, but beyond that, I only need worry about how He feels for me and my life. His perspective is pure and backed by His infinite love for me, and His desire for my success.





Clearing all the other voices from my head left me feeling MUCH lighter, and in turn, much happier. I could hardly believe the blessed relief it brought once I quieted my mind and focused only on myself and my God. I hope it is a lesson I never forget.