The Simple Things

Snow Day Ya'll!

2012-01-20T12:31:00.002-06:00

Sometimes I post on Tumbler. Check it out! I put up random pictures about things that I have been up to. http://jensciejohanna.tumblr.com/

It's a SNOW DAY!!!! Stay safe and warm everyone!

French Toast Muffins!

2012-01-06T13:18:00.004-06:00

I saw this recipe on Pinterest and knew I had to make it! They were so good! Make them and try them for yourself! The recipe is really easy and most of the ingredients are probably already in your kitchen.

The recipe:

1/3 c. butter, melted
1/2 c. sugar
1 egg (preferably room temperature)
1 1/2 c. all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 c. milk

Topping (option: cut topping in half*)
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. butter, melted
1 tsp. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a medium-large bowl, sift together all dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and stir until combined, but still a bit lumpy. Don't overmix. Scoop batter into muffin tins that have sprayed with cooking spray. Using a large ice cream scoop, I got 8 medium-large muffins out of this batter; I think you could get 10-12 muffins by distributing the batter a little less generously. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until they just start to turn a bit golden at the edges.

For the topping, mix sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Place melted butter in another small bowl. Dip the warm muffins in melted butter (you can dip just the top, but it's even tastier to dip the whole muffin!), then dip/roll the muffin in cinnamon sugar. *May have left-over topping; the extra topping can be used for dipping, while eating the muffins (oh my). Another option is to cut the topping ingredients in half. CONSUME, ENJOY, GO CRAZY!

2012 Goals

2012-01-01T21:38:00.004-06:00

2012 Goals:

Simplify My Life

This includes how I live my life and financially. I tend to spend money on things I "think I need" but it is not all necessary.

Become More Financially Responsible

Money has always seemed to be an issue for me. I am living life from paycheck to paycheck right now. I need to prove to both myself and my family that I am independent and responsible.

Pray...often

I want to pray about the things I am struggling with more often then when I talk and complain about them. My relationship with Christ has not been as strong as I would like it to be, I want to have that desire again to get deep into His truth and help it shape who I am.

Grad School

I am hoping and praying that I get accepted somewhere. However, if I do not I will need to find an alternative.

4.0 GPA

I would love for this to happen to finish my undergraduate career! This requires hard work and focus along with many hours spent in the good ol' ROD Library.

Become More Intentional in Communication with Others

I often give people my tired and busy self. I want to be more intentional with people in my life showing them that they are important to me and that I do value their presence in my life.

Discover Who I am

This sounds way too overly cliche, however, I really do want to do this. I compare myself to others and forget who I am. My struggles that I have had lately have been defining me in ways that I wish they would not. I want to learn to take my struggles and learn from them and become a stronger individual, but not run from these things.

Really.... the main thing I want to accomplish in 2012 is to be happy. This seems simple, but 2011 showed me I have a lot to work on, but who doesn't? I want Christ to show through me, not just live inside me. I want to tell more people about Him and what He has done for me and what He can do for them!

Friend... under construction

2011-12-24T01:11:00.003-06:00

It's late and I should be sleeping, but I have something on my mind.

I have realized that ever since the death of my dad I have been stubborn. I know that I have definitely gone through some major changes in my life because of this, but the way it affects me today bothers me. My attitude toward my family has not been the best I will admit. I was "daddy''s little girl" and now at times I do feel like a third wheel. However, I have realized that I, myself, have made me become that way. I haven't been as involved with my family as I should be or as helpful. I don't always agree with situations, but sometimes I need to look from their point of view. I want to be a better daughter and sister.

From realizing that I have not been the best family member I have also realized I am not that great of a friend at times:

I am not that involved: I often blame this on being busy and needing to study, when in actuality I am just really tired and need rest or want to stay at home. I am a HUGE homebody. I want to become a friend who makes efforts to become more invested in friendships.

I don't open up: But when I do I vent so much that I scare people away. I need to find a balance. Friends are people you can trust and who've got your back.

I am judgmental: Because I had to mature a lot faster than most people my age because of my dad I tend to be quick to judge. I assume I know what they are thinking, whether they are being fake or not, or whether they will be truthful and honest with me. I am scared to trust others at times. I want to become a friend who listens and cares. Only God is the one who can judge others, my job is to love.

I know I cannot just change this overnight. But with God's help I can become a more loving friend. One who intentionally invests in others. One who is not quick to judge. I really need to work on this loving attitude not only in my friendships, but also within my family relationships. I need to learn to be submissive at times. I like to think "In 10 years will this argument even matter?" My dad is gone. This is a fact. What I carry away from his life and how he lived it is the part of him that will continue to live on within me.

Christmas Break!

2011-12-20T13:25:00.002-06:00

Christmas break is finally here! It is so weird going from being very busy for an entire semester to not having anything to do. I have kept myself occupied by working both my jobs and doing some Christmas shopping. I am almost done... I am a procrastinator when it comes to this. Every year I tell myself I will start in October and buy things as I see them, but of course this never happens.

Let it snow, let it snow, SERIOUSLY, let it snow! Where is the snow? This year I actually was ready for snow and I anxiously look out my window expecting it to be there in the morning. However, it is still SO nice out- which I'm not complaining about. I just love having a white Christmas, but this year seems like it is more of a brown, warmer Christmas.

I am looking forward to next semester. I only have class around the noon hour so hopefully I will get a lot of hours at my jobs. It is finally my last semester of undergrad! Fingers crossed I will be in grad school in the fall! It is hard seeing my friends become college graduates and obtaining jobs. However, once I finish all of my education I will love what I do. I am so excited to become a speech-language pathologist. All of this schooling is teaching me patience and is helping me to become an outstanding professional. It is definitely difficult at times, but in the end it is going to be completely worth it!

GRAD SCHOOL= DONE!

2011-12-11T14:39:00.002-06:00

I FINALLY sent all my grad school forms in the mail yesterday! It feels so good to be done! Now...I have to play the waiting game. I will not know if I got accepted or not until March. That seems like forever away. I applied to UNI, Kansas State, University of Wisconsin, and Central Missouri. All of these school have very high quality programs in the field of speech-language pathology. Any of them I would be very pleased to be accepted into.

Finals.... the dreaded end of the semester finals are here. This week I have three test which is actually better than previous semesters I have had. My first test is on Tuesday at 5:00 so I have a "free" day tomorrow to study. My tests are in Augmentative and Alternative Communications, EdPsych, and Neuroscience. Neuro will be far the toughest one to study for, but I am up for the challenge. I have stocked up on Mountain Dew and coffee for the week. Caffeine makes the world so much better :)

Grad Schools

2011-08-14T20:13:00.003-05:00

I have narrowed down my list of grad schools to five.

University of Northern Iowa
University of Minnesota
Loyola University
Towson University
University of Maryland College Park

I need to start the application process soon. This week I am really going to focus on writing the essays that are required. This is such a nerve racking process (not to mention expensive!). I wish I could just fast forward and be in grad school. However, this is not the case and I need to buckle down and start this process.

I got a second job for this semester.... I am now a custodian at the Dome and Mcleod Center! haha. It is a perfect job in addition to my daycare one. I get to set my hours and work as much or as little as I want. I get paid $9.00 which is why I really wanted it! Hopefully this semester I will not be as stressed over money as I have been in the past.

School is ONE week away! I cannot believe it! This next semester is suppose to be the hardest one of my college career, but I am ready! Bring it on!

Rock Climbing/ GRE

2011-07-17T19:45:00.007-05:00

Today I went rock climbing for the first time in the WRC with Kate and Brynn. It was so fun! I was nervous at first, but once I starting climbing I really enjoyed it. I touched the top the first time. It was pretty cool! Here are some pictures of us in our stylish climbing gear!

Jacob came up for the weekend and it was really fun. On Friday we went to Panera and watched A-Team. Saturday I had to work from 11-4. Jacob came and visited me at the pool. He jumped in with his phone in his swim trunks and had to leave to dry off his phone. He got it to work!! This is great because it is a loaner phone and he would have had to pay for that. After I got off we went to Waterloo, Applebees, and we went to Walmart and bought Scrabble, Uno, and a deck of cards. We are starting our game collection. I had never played Scrabble before and now I love playing it!! Here is a picture of one of our Scrabble games.

I took the GRE... finally. I studied for a little over a month for this test. However, after taking it I am now considering retaking it. I did not do as well as I would have liked on the verbal and math section. Some grad schools only look to see if you have taken it, but I want to look strong academically. With a low score I am not sure how schools will look at me. However, for the mean time I am glad to be done. I will decided later if I want to retake it. Until then, I am going to enjoy my summer!

Headaches..and Good Food!

2011-06-27T18:17:00.002-05:00

I drink Mountain Dew WAY too much. Today I tried to not have any pop and I had a terrible headache. I did not want to become grumpy so I went and opened up a can. During the spring I got myself off of caffeine for awhile. However, now I am back on it due to early mornings at work and long days. I know I could be addicted to way worse things, but I want to not be so reliant on it. It also is hard to stop drinking it when I get free pop at work. By the end of the summer I hope to not rely on it so much for energy. I am going to look up foods that will provide that energy, but not the caffeine headache.

I went shopping the other day with some friends (basically to every grocery store!). We went to Aldis and that was actually my first time that I had ever been there! It was amazing! The food there (although mainly all off brands) was so cheap! I was able to buy a lot and I went to pay for it and my total only came to about $9.00! I was so impressed. I now have a new favorite grocery store. With everything being so cheap I can be able to learn how to cook healthy meals. To say the least... I'm pumped!

Our home

2011-06-21T14:10:00.004-05:00

Here are some pictures of our new home! Enjoy!

Downstairs living room

Front of our house

Our HUGE backyard

Kitchen

The living room

The living room (again)

My room

My room (different angle)

Summer Goals

2011-06-19T12:29:00.004-05:00

So lately I have found that I have had a lot of down time (minus when I am working). Instead of sitting around and just watching TV or being on the internet I have decided to create a list of things I would like to accomplish this summer. So here it is!

Relearn the guitar and continue to get better (this also means I need to fix it)
Take 20 minute walks every day
Run- By the end of the summer be able to run at least 5 miles feeling good
Paint a picture/canvas
Make green smoothies (I have been hearing a lot about these lately!)
Buy a cook book and learn how to cook well-balanced meals
***Study for the GRE- Take the GRE
Make a summer dress
Dejunk my room- get rid of old clothes as well
Start and FINISH a book
Have more one on one time with people- be more intentional
Become more domesticated- this includes being more lady like and professional

GRE Time

2011-06-16T17:15:00.003-05:00

I have officially started studying for the GRE. That is the test to get into grad school. I have a book to study from that a friend generously gave to me. I have found that it is hard to get myself to actually study for it when the sun is shining or I'm tired from a busy day. I plan on taking it mid-July. Grad school is getting closer and closer and I keep getting more nervous. I have only one more year left of undergrad and then I have two really hard years of grad school still left. It makes me sad that a lot of my friends will be done with school next May and I still have to keep going. Sometimes I wish I would have stayed in the education program just to be done next year, but I believe in the long run everything that I am doing right now will be worth it.

Distance sucks... That is all I can say. It sucks being so far away from Jacob all the time. Right now we are on opposite schedules and sometimes it is hard to talk during the day. I cannot wait until the day that we do not have to rely on the phone to be able to talk to each other. I would love to see him more on a day to day basis and not just on the weekends. However, all this depends on him getting a job (and location of the job) and where I will go for grad school. I wish we could fast forward our lives three years from now just to be able to get past all this distance and actually be together in person. I am really excited to spend the Fourth of July with him in Minneapolis. We are doing to do some shopping and go to a Twins game. I cannot wait to spend some good quality time with him.

Phew!

2011-05-28T00:26:00.001-05:00

I officially just have two jobs and I can breathe finally! I am already a lot less stressed which is very relieving. Our house is all moved into. We can finally sit and relax and enjoy our new home. It is such a blessing to live with my amazing roomies. Tomorrow I am meeting Jacob's family in Waterloo. The girls are going shopping while the guys enjoy some golf. Jacob is really looking forward to golfing at the course because he has not golfed there since high school so that will be really fun for him. Rain is in the forecast, but hopefully it holds out until after they are done!

That's all I have to say for right now...short and sweet :)

Officially Summer!

2011-05-23T18:20:00.000-05:00

So many wonderful things have happened since I last posted! One of my best friends Amy Stellmaker turned into Amy Farley! She is married!! Their wedding was so beautiful! I got the honor of being one of her bridesmaids. They are currently on their honeymoon in North Carolina. Another piece of exciting news is Bailey is ENGAGED to Michael!! They plan on getting married next summer! So exciting!

I finally moved into my new house in Cedar Falls. I live with the best roommates EVER! I get the privilege to live with Becca, Kate and Jill! Jill is gone for the summer, but will move in in August. Currently, Kate, Becca and I are working on decorating our new little home. I will put pictures up when everything is done!

Currently, I have three jobs. Which is very stressful. I am planning on quitting one of them so I do not go crazy this summer. I start the pool job tomorrow which is very exciting! I am learning that I do not need to make a lot of Walmart trips to buy useless things that I do not need. I am definitely learning the value of a dollar. It is a struggle, but it keeps me focused and aware of my spending.

All in all my life is wonderful right now! I love my amazing boyfriend, living with these amazing beautiful girls is so fun, and I am blessed to be able to have at least two jobs to support myself.

Homestretch to Summer

2011-03-29T19:40:00.000-05:00

These past couple weeks have seemed to go by really fast! Spring break was so relaxing. I got to spend time with one of my best friends, Kate, and the love of my life, Jacob. Kate and I were really crafty. We made mustache coffee mugs, painted wine glasses, and made flower headbands! It was a blast! Jacob and I continued to learn how to make "grown-up" meals and we were able to just spend quality time with each other. The end of the week was spent with my family which was really fun! We went to the King's Speech and Applebees. The King's Speech was such a great movie and I recommend it to anyone!

Lately, life has been crazy to say the least. God has broken me down. I have learned that without Him I am nothing. I have been carrying around my pride thinking basically the world revolved around me. I have realized that I have not been as loving as I could to people. I regret this. I have had thick skin for the past couple semesters without ever letting my guard down. I am finally ready to let it down and let people in. This will take time, but I want to get to know people and not just on a surface level. I don't want to just vent to them and have them help me, but rather I want to listen to them and help and encourage them.

This weekend I am going home and I could not have chosen a better weekend to get out of Cedar Falls. I just need some time away. I get to see Jacob and hopefully (fingers crossed) see my brother's track meet on Friday. I still need to get work off.

Highlights from the past couple weeks:

Quality time with Jacob
Quality time with Kate
Quality time with family
Being an assistant clinician is going great!
Caught up on sleep
Finally on the homestretch to summer
Proactive on finding a second job
Dance party
Apartment is clean
Good grades
City and Colour is currently on One Tree Hill (Two of my all time favorites) :)

Recent Highlights

2011-03-06T21:00:00.001-06:00

Future roomies! Becca, Kate and Jill! So excited!!

Jacob and I made Build-A-Bears for Valentines Day

Jacob graduated from ISU! Congrats hunny!

I love when Jacob comes up for the weekend!

Football games with Becca and Kate were fun!

Pretending to be Paris Hilton

I'm so glad Emily Brodie goes to UNI!

These are some recent photos from the fall to the present. Hope you enjoyed them! :) I will blog about everything hopefully sooner than later! I have been really (and I mean REALLY) bad at blogging and I apologize for that! I will try and start to keep up with this. Hope this finds you all doing very well!!

I'm Baaack!

2010-08-01T21:25:00.000-05:00

Kate and I in Chicago!!

Jacob and I at Jordan and Lizz's Wedding!

Emily and I going to the wedding

Amanda, Kate and I at Bash on the Farm

I'm now back on blogger!!

So I have decided I am the worst blogger ever!

This summer has gone by crazy fast!! My life has changed in so many ways and I have discovered a lot about myself. I have also found things that I need to rid myself in my life. I have been leaving up at school this summer so no more living under Mama’s roof! I miss seeing my family everyday, but I’m loving hanging with my friends up here. I live with four other girls, but only Terrin has been here this summer. However she has been traveling every weekend to various places. So it’s kind of like I have been living on my own. I have learned to be very independent this summer which is good and bad at the same time.

School starts in less than a month…which is way too soon. However, my attitude toward it right now is great! I am really excited to actually work hard this semester. I live close to the library so I will be in there more than I ever have in my college career thus far. My major is demanding, but I can put up a good fight!

My love life….let’s just say I have one kind of, but I’ll talk about that more when I know more! e him next Monday and I'm really excited! I'm excited where life is going to take us together and how God is

Recent Happenings

2009-12-06T12:08:00.000-06:00

I don't really have anything to talk about, but I haven't written on here for awhile so I thought I should. The semester is FINALLY winding down! I am very lucky this semester that I don't really have a lot of semester tests. I actually have only two tests and they are just unit/chapter tests. I do have to go to two of my other classes as well, but there aren't tests in them. One is a group application and my other class we are going to Waterloo to read to first graders! I'm really excited about that! I'm ready to be done with classes because since I'm changing majors it's hard to have motivation to go to classes and do the work.

A struggle that I have had lately is being confident in myself and having contentment with where I am. I feel like everyone knows what they want and they seem so happy about things. I am not even close to that. I mean I'm not grumpy about life, but it just seems to be a struggle when I'm getting out of bed because I feel like I have nothing to be excited about anymore. I know that I should get out of bed with a great attitude because God sustained me through the night, but some days it just takes more effort.

More than anything I want to just leave Iowa for awhile. I have no idea where I would go or what I would do, but I just want to leave for awhile. I feel like I say this a lot, but honestly I just feel so stuck here all the time. I want a change of scenery and a change of faces. I want to go somewhere where no one knows me and so they don't know my past. Basically, I want a new start with life. A chance to start over.

One last thing. It's kind of girlish, but recently I have been really excited about meeting my future spouse. It's kind of exciting now because I maybe have never met him or maybe I have. Either way God is right now preparing his heart for me and I think that is amazing. I now need to allow God to be in total control of my life and let Him bring me to him in His own time.

On track!

2009-11-13T16:44:00.001-06:00

For the past two weeks things have been on the ups for me! At first I was not doing well, but once I started looking forward to my new beginning things have been great! (for the most part) I have been able to hang out with people that I haven't for a long time and have made new friendships! I can see God working in my life because of the people He has placed with me right now. They are amazing people who love me for who I am and they love Jesus. I don't know what was making me not be open to people before, but I had just been so closed to them. I am very excited what God has in store for me. I've learned that when I trust God with my life he will open new doors for me. He knows what is best for me and always has, but I had thought that I had it all figured out. He has been providing me with amazing things that I could never dream of. Yay God!

Changing of Majors

2009-10-20T17:53:00.000-05:00

I still need to figure out what I want to do with my life. I think I am basically done with the idea of being a teacher. I did think about PE teaching and health education for awhile, but that as well is a faded thought. Right now I'm considering being an SLP (Speech language Pathologist). This would mean that I need to get my masters which means I just added 2-3 more years of school. Adding years will be ok if in the long run I'm going to love what I do. I want to be an SLP because I love working individually with people. For a long time I thought I could decide what I want to do by myself, but when I've been trusting God with what I'm suppose to do everything is seeming to fall into place. I wouldn't really be behind now if I start my SLP schoolling now since you start taking classes the spring of your sophomore year which is where I almost am. Also all the meetings for the major are coming up soon which means I haven't missed them. I do believe God is leading me towards this. It is going to be very competitive, but I can take a challenge.

Four Queens

2009-09-26T01:10:00.000-05:00

Kate, Laura, Me and Amy. Tonight we went to Four Queens and ate ice cream and other cold stuff. I had a strawberry kiwi slush and it tasted nasty. Amy and I sat and talked about the "good old" days. We also were reminded of the beautiful drill masters we had to wear because of some Cedar Falls band members walking in after their homecoming game. Oh drill masters. What an honor to wear those. or not. Then we came back and watched 17 Again. What a night. I needed a good relaxing night, not stressing over things...such as my future and if I'm transferring or not. Yay for a chill night!

Round 2

2009-09-21T21:27:00.001-05:00

So I'm not really a "blogger" so I'm just trying this whole thing out.
I'm starting out my second year here at UNI majoring in elementary education. I'm struggling with what I really want to be though. I keep going between el edu and pe teaching/health promotion and recreational therapy. Now on top of not knowing what I want to do I want to transfer to ISU. I could do recreational therapy there or maybe even dietetics. I just want to do something with health. I love UNI. I have many great friends here, but whenever I go home I am the happiest. So now I'm wondering is it better to stay here and just finish my college career up or go home where I feel the most alive and loved? I've been praying about it, but I just don't seem to be getting any answers. Last night I wrote down the pros and cons of each college, but it didn't seem to help at all. I need to find where my passion is. Everyone here seems to know exactly what they want to do with their lives. I thought I did when I first came here, but now I have no idea, other than I want to do something with health/fitness. It's getting to the point where I need to figure this out...I know though that God will let me know where to go, but it will be in His time and I just need to be patient.