DVDs & Movies I want to See

Just the start of a list. Some of these I'm sure have fast forward parts and some I'm sure aren't great, but I am curious.

Persuasion
Last King of Scotland
Beowulf
Becoming Jane
Band of Brothers
First Season of The Office
The Hours
Elizabeth the Golden Age
Unsinkable Molly Brown
Easy Rider
One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest
American Beauty
Sunset Blvd
Lawrence of Arabia
American History X
Magnolia
Clockwork Orange
LA confidential
Bridge on the River Kwai
Das Boot
Requiem for a Dream
Raging Bull
Singin in the Rain
Rebecca
All about Eve
The Sting
the Big Sleep
Once Upon a Time in America
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Cool Hand Luke
The Incredibles
The Deer Hunter
It Happened One Night
The Graduate
Gandhi
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Letters from Iwo Jima
Harvey
Gone with the Wind
Trainspotting
Nosferatu
Scarface
King Kong
Twelve Monkeys
Spartacus
The OxBow Incident
The Philadelphia Story
Bonnie and Clyde
Dial M for Murder
A Streetcar named Desire
Shaun of the dead
All Quiet on the Western Front
Dr. Zhivago
Arsenic and Old Lace
A Man for All Seasons
Thank you for Smoking

Sting, beaded necklaces, and peaches

So it's a holiday and I just woke up from dreaming. I don't know why we dream what we dream, but as for me, I'm pretty active out in my community while living in the dream.

I was out walking along a road near my parents' house, and I noticed a stranger nearby, so I turned in toward the neighborhood pool driveway, lined with tall Oleanders, to avoid him, but then there was another man who appeared, and it was Sting. I was pleased to see him, so we started walking and chatting. Apparently he had recently moved to an underground house that happened to be just below my parents' and their neighbors' houses. Naturally I invited Sting over for the holiday meal (Thanksgiving, I think) and I guenuinely believed he would enjoy coming -- or at least be entertained. By this time other family members and neighbors were meeting him and he started getting other invitations, and I figured that he might not REALLy enjoy himself with my family, though maybe he would have. I did get a look at his underground home, complete with a row of skylit windows. It was a nice place and it's funny that I wasn't that surprised that it had been under there all this time.

Eventually I started dreaming that I lived in a seemingly small dark house downtown (LA I think) with some of my girl students and ICU members. I was out doing something ICU related that was held at the freeway (?) and Sam asked me if I wouldn't mind going back to the maintenance stairwell to get one of the girls' car and her blue beaded necklace she left as a marker. So I drove and found the car. But there were some hoodlum thieves that put things in trees by the freeway because they sell things that they find. They had taken the necklace, but somehow I was able to get ahold of it from the nearby tree and rush off to the car. They were very agile in the trees but I was surprised they did not slide on the branches using the other necklaces and other flexible, long items to hold their weight. If they had, I'm sure they would have caught me. But I jumped in the little vintage roadster and sped away -- I believe I drove down the stairwell and maneuvered around traffic and lights in a very fast manner.

I eventually got the items back home, by which time I was calm and ready to wander around our house to see what was past the basement. There were some 99c store decorations and 2 Christmas trees, and a doorway to the backyard that I didn't know we had. By this time a young guy was with me, seemingly a student or younger brother of one of the roommates. I was especially thrilled to see we had plenty of pumpkins growing so we could make jack-o-lanterns without having to buy anything. I took a peach off the peach tree and removed some of the worm shaped fuzz from the exterior with my fingers. Then the young man asked if he could imitate me and try the peach too. So we both ate the peach, which was quite good.

Concrete Nouns

So, I couldn't find ANY online list of concrete nouns or verbal images on the entire world wide web! So I thought I would start one. Please feel free to add to this list if you have some good nouns.

spiral staircase
cooking sherry
bedside table
rocky road ice cream
monsoon
cake batter
tea time
sea foam
chinese pavilion
scented candle
xylophone
pupil
rocking chair
grandfather clock
petal
ceiling tile
whisker
apron
vellum
frog leg
chowder
pearl necklace
knickers
fire hydrant
heirloom tomato
senator
tennis coach
hair salon
iris

more to come

Convergences

This is a cool website (click on my title, "convergences."
It has a collection of image pairings that bear a striking resemblance to each other, as seen in the pictures above.
Enjoy!

Stealing from Artists

I found this cool site that shows color palettes from famous paintings. Could be a cool resource for decorating or scrapbooking or ...?

"What art offers is space - a certain breathing room for the spirit."
John Updike

I thought this was a cool quote.

The 99 Cent Store

I love the 99 cent store. I'm blown away that people can make an HGTV room from 99 cent store accessories and 2 cans of paint. I shopped at our local 99 cent only store today and spent $30. It was an awesome time. The printed glasses, kitchen supplies, school supplies, these are the kinds of things I found irresistible. I will be going back again soon. Very soon.

Things I'd like to do b4 I die

Cruise to Alaska
Visit Prince Edward Island
Learn to Ballroom Dance
Learn to do Irish Step Dancing
Make a mosaic
Make home movies
Paint paintings
Garden
Learn to make clothing
Try surfing
Scuba dive
Snowboard

Albert & the F bomb teaches me

This week I continually lost patience with my 4th period class -- particulary Albert who dropped the F bomb in class and when I told him to come back into the room to talk to me about it after class, he said "why" and "what if I don't?" Punk. So then I was trying to see the positive in the situation, and what i came up with was that people are really stupid & annoying, and I am also a person, thus stupid & annoying as well. That's not really positive, but what is, is that I was led to think about how God loves people so much and is so gracious and patient. I had a new appreciation for how vast that love and patience and grace is. So that's good. The end.

My New Year's Resolutions

1. Prioritize Spiritual Things (Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.) Value people and character rather than possessions and performance.

2. Exercise effective habits -- be proactive, begin with the end in mind, and put first things first, think win-win, seek first to understand and then to be understood, synergize, and sharpen the saw.

3. Use my planner and schedule the hours of my day.

4. Get up at 5am and exercise/do devotions (I haven't started this yet :) )

5. Send birthday cards to all close friends and relatives

6. Create and maintain procedures at work and at home

7. Grade all daily papers by 4:30pm

8. Plan at home at night (don't stay late at school) and grade 5 essays a night

9. Be more healthy than last year -- drink more water, eat more veggies, fruits and whole grain foods, don't overat, cut down on sugar, eat organic food

10. Hand back all student work in a timely manner

11. Take off Wednesday rehearsals before grades are due

How am I doing? Okay so far, but I am still on vacation, so my time is wide open, allowing me to accomplish things I want with all the time I have on my hands. We'll see what happens when 8+ of my hours are gone. Some great things that have been soooo helpful: I bought a one-year Bible, which has given me short term goals clearly laid out day by day. Also helpful, Holly wanting to exercise & being in the same house. It's easier w/ another person. Also helpful, my planner. PTL for Franklin Covey. The last thing that was SO helpful was moving up one of the cabinets from the garage into my room, so now I have a little workspace for stationery and filing and my books! I love it -- Thanks Eric and Holly! (It was a beast -- so heavy).

Happy New Year! Hopefully we'll all lose 20-30 pounds and cut out the carbs and get up on time all year! :)

2006 Retrospective

HAPPY NEW YEAR, PEOPLE! As I look ahead to 2007, I am reflective about 2006 and what I experienced. Many firsts, many hard times, but mostly many people and things to be thankful for.

Holly had this idea, and I love it -- 2006, a year in review. Here are some of the highlights:

• I got an ipod and downloaded my entire music collection into it - it took a few minutes
• My mom went through & survived chemo, PTL
• Debra became pregnant with a second child who was born in December -- Caleb the Cute
• Shey & Jackson started putting words and sentences together -- Jackson's favorite word? "NO!"
• Our roommie Sarah Jane moved out and got married...and got pregnant
• My dad moved in for a 'short stay'
• Holly moved in (and we'll never let her leave...ha ha)
• I completed my first year of teaching honors Brit lit. and AVID
• I started this blog & put my pictures online -- everyone else was doing it!
• I went with the worship team to India for 2 weeks -- Paul and Annie are cool, It was great to see Kamal and Eric, It was a blast dressing like a native, and I LOVED Thailand. 1-2-3-BAM!
• First time to "host" a rehearsal dinner & sang & helped at Sarah Jane and Mark's wedding
• Enjoyed Mother's Day Tea with an emotional Mary Chestnut
• Global Night Commute - ICU and some 'chaperones' walked several miles to the Santa Monica City Hall and slept overnight to raise awareness abou the night commuters in Uganda
• We had a screening of Invisible Children at church (COC)
• Eric went with Adam and Jeff to Uganda & ate Matoki
• I completed my first year of co-advising the ICU club with Sam
• I helped lead music and hand motions for VBS (He was, He is, and always will be... our Messiah)
• Eric and I explored LA on our anniversary "trip" and enjoyed a chef's 6 course meal (our first meal prepared by a chef!)
• I organized my cards and memorabilia from 1970 on
• We met with the ICU club over the summer to hang out and plan -- we came up with our new logo! check it out at our blog
• Eric's mom, Mary, and Larry Chestnut moved from Woodland Hills (nice & close) to Georgia (far far away)
• Entertained Eric's cousin Joe for a few days, taking him around LA now that we're experts at the sights
• Eric started teaching science and geography at Santa Clarita Christian School -- he finally found a job he loves (although the 7th grade boys are a thorn in the flesh)
• I did my first GuluWalk -- An organized walk to raise awareness for war-torn Northern Uganda -- We were an orange mass on Topanga Canyon Road and attracted much attention!
• Went on my first COC women's retreat to Hume - we had a great speaker and a great time getting to know ladies
• Went camping in Kernville for the first time "diner style"
• One of my students, Michael, got saved
• I was blessed with a student teacher, Ms. Starkey, who now has a job teaching at a Christian school with her husband. :)
• Enjoyed "Early Thanksgiving" at mom's with friends & family
• Eric and I had an awesome time together at the ACSI convention -- Association of Christian Schools International (we went to great teaching seminars!)
• Enjoyed Thanksgiving at Dave & Marybeth's -- especially hearing what Joce and Sheylah were thankful for! "My dinner"
• Finished off the year with finals week, Christmas musical programs at church, and Christmas lunches/dinners with Eric's dad's family, his brother's family, my Uncle Frank's family, the Brock's, and finally with my brother Steve's family.
• I have eaten some fabulous holiday fare, received many restaurant gift cards, and gained some poundage... Time for New Year's Resolutions.

Thank you for taking a stroll down the memory lane of 2006 in the life of myself, Jennene. I pray that this year we redeem the time and put first things first, setting our hearts and minds on things above.

My Pictures Are Online

Hello friends & family. I now have a flickr account, so you can view my pictures and download them to your computer, camera, photo ordering site, whatever! Go and check it out! :) http://www.flickr.com/photos/62394263@N00/

In other news, my nephew Caleb came into the world in December, and we all like him a great deal. Here he is in all his glory: http://www.flickr.com/photos/62394263@N00/331558779/