An Afternoon in Streator, with Elvis and His Mom

Yesterday I met up with the other 11 students going to London for a little party at Matt's house in Streator. Streator is an interesting experience. Matt says that lots of people make fun of their towns, but with Streator, the stuff is actually true. For example, "You can kill someone and get away with it in my town!" Well, in Streator, he says, you actually can! Haha. Anyway, it was really nice to go there and see everyone before we fly over the Big Pond. I was able to get to know some of them a little better, talk about some questions we had, figure out who's bringing what, discuss what we want to do in London, and make some tentative travel plans for weekends and at the end of the semester. And have some yummy food Matt's family made for us! :)  It was also great to have some time to chat with my Jen Dawson on the way home. I'm really lucky to have a good friend along on our adventures.

A question for anyone who has traveled in Europe:
Do you reccommend traveling by plane or train? We have a limited amount of traveling time at the end, so plane would be faster, but it would also be nice to see all the places we're going through on a train. Any advice?

Well, I'm going to go try to convince Jen Swanson (the original Jen Squared!) to go to the movies in our pajamas tonight! (I bet she'll do it!) Enjoy the weather and all of your summery doings!
~Jen

"Gone. Like Frank Sinatra. Like Elvis and his mom. Like Al Pacino's cash, nothing lasts in this life. My high school dreams are gone. My childhood sweets are gone. Life is a day that doesn't last for long! Life is more than money. Time was never money. Time was never cash. Life is still more than girls, life is more than hundred dollar bills and roto-tom fills, life is more than fame and rock and roll and thrills. All the riches of the kings end up in wills. We've got information in the information age, but do we know what life is outside of our convenient Lexus cages? He said she said live like no tomorrow, every day we borrow brings us closer to a God who's not short on cash. Hey Bono, I'm glad you asked. Life is still worth living..." -Switchfoot

Days til London... 50!

I haven't been counting down, I just figured it out right now. (I swear!) Besides, Jeff had his Australia countdown going since like January! (His site is www.iwu.edu/~jmeador/australia if you'd like to take a look. I don't think he's updated it yet, since I think he just got there a few days ago.) Anyway, I don't really have much to say, I just have some extra time on my hands today and I'm getting excited for my British semester. My parents just decided they're going to visit for Thanksgiving. It'll be fun to show them where I live and cool stuff to do, and to do some new things while they're there, too. Mostly, though, I'm just glad they get to go for them, because I got to go to Italy in high school and now spend a whole semester in London, and my sister has been all over Europe, but they've never gotten to go. So, it'll be fun. And interesting to be among the only 20 people in Great Britain celebrating Thanksgiving! Haha.

Well, since I'm posting, I might as well tell you about my summer so far! Most days I've been working, sleeping, and bumming around. I'm a cashier at Meijer. Not very glamorous, but it's money, and I've met some cool people. Aside from the regular day-to-day stuff, I've been able to do some really fun things, too! I got to see my grandma from Las Vegas a few times while she was in the area for a month. It was a sad start to the summer because my grandpa died, but it was good to see her, and my aunt and cousins for a couple days, too. While she was here, we went with my parents up to Lake Geneva and took a boat tour of the mansions on the lake. It was really cool. (Those houses were HUGE!) I've also gotten to see my other grandparents, go downtown with Steve for our 2 year anniversary, paint and do the gift registry for his sister's baby, go down to school to meet with IV exec and hang out with Jen D. and see Jesse and Kevin, go to a Chicago Fire soccer game (or football, as I'll soon be referring to it!), hang out with my best friend Jen Swanson (before she left for Africa!) and Christin Fippinger, a.k.a. Fippy (before SHE left for China!), hang out at the Wonderland Center- a college-age ministry some of my friends and my old youth pastor are starting up, meet up at Panera with some great girls on Friday mornings for a girls' Bible study and time to catch up, see some good movies, help out at my old neighbor Morgan's Lizzie McGuire birthday party (it was really fun, actually!), babysit, see a ska concert with my buds, and spend the 4th of July weekend on Roy's parents' yacht on Lake Michigan with some friends from Judson! So, I guess I've had a pretty good summer so far. It's been some much needed relief from a rough and emotional semester! As for the rest of the summer, I plan to help with Vicky's surprise baby shower (the cake Jen S. and I are making her is going to say "Happy Labor Day!" haha.), go to Great America, spend a weekend up at Harsons Island in Michigan with Steve and his friend Jon-o from the Marines, move Jen S. into her new apartment, see my friend Krystal be FABULOUS in her play, and head down to Streator with Jen D. for a pool party with all the London-ites at Matt's house. OH, and go to Chapter FOCUS Week (an InterVarsity camp) at Cedar Campus in Michigan for the week before London (Get back Aug. 28, and we leave the 30)! So, yeah, that's my summer in a nutshell. A very big nutshell. :)

I hope all of you are having a wonderful summer, and I'd love to hear from you!

Signing off,
Jen

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." ~Jeremiah 29:11