La La La Whatever

Today I am especially grateful to have a decent singing voice. Music is so important to me. Music is my life. I can't imagine my life without it... I am grateful I can sing, and I am grateful for my friends, and those around me, that can sing as well. It's just nice to hear beautiful voices surrounding me:)

 

I love music:)

- J

As Per Tradition

Every year I write a list of what I'm grateful for, and don't repeat any over the years. Well, this year I'm doing it a little different. I will be posting each day during the month of November something I am grateful for. This will be the first.

Today I am grateful for food. Seems simple enough, right? Did you know there are 925 million hungry people in the world today? And in 2009 that number was 1025 million undernourished people. How often we take for granted our food...

I am grateful that I have the luxury of going to the store when I need food, that I can then afford the food, and that I can eat whenever I am hungry. I no longer will take food for granted. It's something I couldn't live without, and something I am lucky enough to have.

What do you take for granted??

- J

Look Good, Feel Better

Today I went to a class called "Look good, Feel better" where cancer patients come together and learn from a trained cosmetologist.

Life is filled with blessings,

and the little things.

GOOD HAPPENS.

In this class I learned the key to keeping my skin healthy through chemotherapy, and how to apply make up that actually looks good and doesn't look like an orange paste caked on your face.




What was so good about this class?

Besides learning a lot, the best thing was the fact that throughout the class each person in there probably said "You're beautiful!" at least five times. I couldn't stop smiling! Before this class I rarely felt beautiful. But since the end of the class I haven't stopped feeling beautiful! I really do look good, and feel even better:)

I AM BEAUTIFUL!
How good it is to feel beautiful!

- J

What Makes Me the Happiest

People often ask me what makes me happy... I struggle to find an answer. I pull together words and phrases and I ramble off some nonsensical jumble that confuses the listener. Sometimes I come up with a really good answer and I wow my audience. But, much to my dismay, the next day, or maybe later in the week- that thing that made me "so happy" has broken my heart in a cruel manner in which I feel desperate to heal. Personally, I don't like to live in the moment. I have noticed that living in the moment only leads to heart break and disappointment.

There is one thing that never lets me down. There is one thing that has never disappointed me, not one single time. There is one thing that has never led me to cringe and grab my heart as though it is literally breaking. There is one thing that makes me so incredibly happy that on even the hardest of days, I can find every reason to smile.

I am not good with words. I pretend to be eloquent and say things in a manner through which you as the reader feel moved and feel the passion I feel. Unfortunately, my fake eloquence only goes so far. That is why I want you to read this. It's long... I understand. BUT, it says everything that I have been trying to say for the past two years. She says it so perfectly that I wish I could claim those words as my own and profess them to the world as loud as I can yell. Because the thing that makes me the happiest, is j.wride.

Okay okay, you've heard me blog about them a hundred times. But this is where you need to understand something-  nothing in this world makes me as happy as j.wride. Their music, their melodies, their harmonies, their lyrics, their tone, their personalities, and the people themselves. Jesse Wride, Austin Anderson, and Court Eccles. Three people who have changed my life.

Before I became friends with these three boys I was lonely, I was miserable. I didn't have a place where I felt I belonged. I felt as if I were a nobody. And in all retrospect, I was a nobody. Nobody depended on me, and I felt as if I could disappear and it would make no difference in the world.

Then I went to my first j.wride concert. I went with zero expectations. I went because my friend Jesse told me his band was playing and I thought I should support him. I brought along 9 of my closest friends. The ten of us really didn't expect anything, but from the first song they played, I looked to my right, I looked to my left, and I saw a light in their eyes. It was the light you see when you not only are pleasantly surprised, but when you are incredibly happy. That light that only comes once in a while. The light we all earnestly seek. And by the end of that concert, I was hooked. It was thanks to Jesse and his suggestion I attend the concert. It was thanks to Jesse for his outrageous and rapid hands that played such perfect melodies. It was thanks to Jake Edvalson who played the saxophone beautifully. It was thanks to Garrett who played the bass with ease. And it was thanks to Austin who wowed me with the way he became one with the drums.

I soon realized the only time I felt that light in my life was when I went to a j.wride concert. If you don't believe me, take one night to yourself and go to one of their concerts. Listen through one song. And if you aren't hooked..... Then there's something wrong with you. Every single person who has given them a chance, has liked their music. Even if they don't become super fans like me, they at least have a love for the music. And, for those of you who haven't been to a concert in a while... Let me say this. They were really really good before, but they are AMAZING now.

So why does it make me so happy? Again, I am flustered. Words can not adequately describe the joy I feel every time I step into a concert. Or every time I sit in a band practice. The way they play together, and the way they somehow touch my soul without even really trying... It's incredible.

Austin, Court, Jesse

If you haven't taken a listen before, do it now. Here on their bandpage. And let me know what you think.

So, words might not be my strong point. But if there is one thing I know, it's that these three boys are going to make it. Not just as Utah's newest and hottest band.. They are going to make it world wide. They've already started, and they aren't slowing down. Nothing is gonna stop these boys from setting your world on fire. Why else would I fly over 2,000 miles across the country for their CD release??...

- J

Jesse Wride, Austin Anderson, Me, Court Eccles

Claire (formerly Thorley) White and her AMAZING blog of wonders.

My good friend Claire is doing a giveaway on her blog! This is what she's giving away::

Aren't they just darling?! There are more pictures on her blog. I so want to win it, and wouldn't they just look so good in my room hanging from the window. I think so. Anyways, her blog is amazing and if you read my blog, you will LOVE hers. Check it out and if you don't love it, I'll give you a kiss. EW! Not a real one, a chocolate one, duh! 

Anyways, why is this posted on my Good Happens blog? Because Claire's blog inspires me and it makes me happy. Sometimes when I have a bad day, I just look at her blog, and I feel.... better. There's something about the way she writes, or the photographs she takes, or the person she is, that makes you want to be a better person. And she is amazing.

Take a look, you won't regret it.

- J

Pretending Is A Lot Like Faith

Yesterday I had a unique and life changing experience.

I babysat 3 young children as their mother attended the temple. When I first arrived, the children were playing with, what I learned was called, squishies. After doing some research, I learned that 'squishies' are actually pencil toppers. Random.

Anyways, each of us had at least 2 squishies and a 'habitat' for each squishy. I had a pig and an octopus. My pig had a bed, a hat, a TV, and some hot chocolate and some roasting chicken (yes, lego chicken actually over a fake flame...). The octopus had a pool. They both shared a tree house (which was the lamp in their room). This was my first time babysitting children in almost 2 years and I struggled playing with them because I had forgotten how to pretend.

I was unable to be the pig, and be the octopus. Lizzie was a panda. Jennifer was a crab. Jonathan was a bear. But I wasn't a pig. I wasn't an octopus. I was just Jenna. It took me probably 5 minutes to snap out of it and start pretending to pretend. I decided I had to start somewhere, and these kids were wondering why I wasn't playing with them. So I pretended to pretend, and somewhere along the pretending... I actually started pretending. I became the pig. I became the octopus. I became a squishy.

I learned that the act of pretending is a lot like having faith. You have a confident belief in something greater than yourself. Pretending is allowing yourself to forget the laws and the rules, and allows you to believe in something. It allows you to, for a few small moments, let go of all reasoning and allows you to just believe. I chose to believe. But it took work. I had to have a desire to believe before I actually believed. I had to believe in something greater than myself. And when I did, everything changed. I wasn't myself anymore. But I wasn't just a pig or an octopus, I was a kid again. And just like that, my life changed.

Like pretending, faith has changed my life. I had a desire to believe, and after a lot of work, I began to believe. It started small, and it was hard to believe. But soon that small belief turned into stronger and stronger faith. And today, I testify that my faith in my Savior Jesus Christ, has changed me. My faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ, has changed me. My faith in God, has changed me. My faith has changed me. And, by studying my scriptures and praying, and attending my church meetings, my faith is strengthened. And through my faith, I am made strong.

My Name is Jenna, I have Alopecia Universalis, I Choose to Find Joy In The Little Things, and I am a Mormon.

My entry into the Mormon Messages competition:




Made by Stephanie Keefe! What do you think?? :)