Where's Jenny 2016?

Alright, since it's still technically January I'm still allowed to talk about goals and the changing new year, blah blah blah.

Well, let me begin with just a brief reflection- this past year has been absolutely incredible. The day that things really started coming together for me last winter semester (with getting good news on my potential internship in Holland / trip to Uganda) I walked out of my apartment and saw the funniest thing written in chalk on a driveway. It was so random but it just said in big letters #WheresJenny2015? 

I thought that was pretty good. And since then, that's been my little inner theme for myself as I go on all these adventures. In 2015 I found myself in St. Louis, Chicago, Salt Lake, Provo, Rochester NY, Gulf Shores Alabama, London, Kampala, Gulu, Manti, Amsterdam, The Hague, Antwerp, Paris, Berlin, Oslo, Flam (Norway), Harlem (NL), Delft, Vienna, Yorkshire, Nottingham, Birmingham, Cardiff and all sorts of places in between! 

To sum that up in a more compact way this past year I have been in 9 different countries! I lived alone in Europe doing a professional internship. I started my own Solar company (with mixed success, but I did do it!) and I successfully completed another semester of school. Not too shabby and some good things to remember when I feel down on myself! I've done a lot in the year since I returned home from my mission! 

Which kind of sets this year up for some great expectations. How could 2016 possibly live up to 2015? Well, I'm graduating for one thing! I'll walk in April and then finish two econ classes that I need spring semester and be done by June. After that I'll be moving who knows where! I want to move to DC or Boston to work but there's really no saying. I'll probably have an excuse to go back to Europe for a friend's wedding if I can muster up the money, my brother will get hitched and I'll become an aunt again!  

And all this is just the stuff I know of! So, yeah 2016 should be nothing to stick my nose up at! Here's to many more adventures in Provo and Beyond! 

To start the year off, here's a review of my January in pictures: 

I made the questionable choice of flying out on New Years morning from Birmingham.
There was no personalized in-flight entertainment.  Luckily the Shipps gave me
 the latest season of Doctor Who to downloaded from iTunes.
I binge-watched while eating Jelly Babies.

I was very tired and had no voice when I got to Utah.
Luckily Mike and Lottie were nice enough to pick me up from the airport and let me stay at their house. 

As you can see, I really invaded their personal space. 

I got to see an American friend that I met in Holland who also just moved back to the states!

I reunited with Kristy! 

And we were so inspired by the hipster jewelry that we
decided to see Star Wars for the second time that night!  

After that I went to my first ever BYU basketball game with Lotterbeth!

I got some priceless wisdom from Tina Fey in point #4

I binge ate healthy food sporadically with cookies.

I got the most awesome Storm Trooper shirt ever from Emily!

I checked out the new Provo City Center Temple open house. It's absolutely beautiful!

Emily sent me a cool antique map water bottle! 

Ashley and Dieds visited from Holland and we got Indian food and belgian waffles! 

Lottie performed at Velour

On my road to spinsterhood I decided to start painting modern art!

And I spent a lot of time on campus!

Well, that's 2016 so far! Here's to 11 more months of painting and invading Lottie's personal space!

Quarter Century Club

Well guys, it's happened! I've turned 25 and the best years of my life are now behind me...

Just kidding! 

Mostly ;) 

The last couple decades have brought me some great things and also some really crappy things and I'm pretty sure that's just life. To be honest, things have turned out very differently than I could have imagined and I get stressed out with the uncertainty of where I will end up, but I have faith that things will be fine and I'm excited to see where 25 takes me! For instance...will it be on a journey through TIME AND SPACE? 

Haha, cause that's what I did for my birthday! Sweet Laura mustered up all her strength (she's been very sick with her pregnancy) and drove me all the way to Cardiff, Wales to go to the Doctor Who Experience! It was great! And it was really fun to have a whole day just hanging out with Laura!

So, please, before I wax too existential about the meaning of life and aging,  bask in the nerdyness that are the pictures below! 

I spent a lot of time in the gift shop!
I think this is the Tardis from the episode when it keeps shrinking!

Shake hands with an ood

Laura can't figure out why there are all these tallys on her arms...

They had manakins of all the old doctors and their signature outfits!
I liked this question mark vest a lot...

They had an area with mirrors where you were supposed to practice
 the choreography for being some of the monsters in Dr Who.
So this is me trying out my scarecrow. Apparently people stared at us. 

Inside the Tardis! 

I looked into the heart of the Tardis

This my jam.
BBC has come a long way in terms of funding this nerd show

A Dalek! 

Don't blink!

In the gift shop I found that awesome question mark vest!
Luckily I tried it on and realized it looked terrible on me

There was also this epic ugly Christmas sweater which I came
\close to getting but will just have to remember through this picture

I think maybe the best part of the Doctor Who place was just how nerdy everyone was! Like, we got some food from the cafe at the experience and it was totally packed but SO quiet! Like this epic gathering of introverts! And we were all happy! Also, during the experience, I pretty much saved the universe because I found one of the missing crystals. And I got to help fly the Tardis while Laura held on to the handrails, scared for the safety of her unborn child. Good times!



The next three pictures are random but go with the theme of hanging with Laura in Nottingham

Robin Hood

We so cute

Gotta get my phone booth pic! Every time! 

Because we got back from Cardiff really late on my birthday and were quite tired after driving for hours in the dark rain, we had my party the next day. I had to go meet someone in Birmingham in the morning and when I came back, Laura and Teeny and Ellie all popped out with balloons and party hats to surprise me! Teeny was the cutest because she popped out from behind the curtains in the window but of course I could see her as we pulled up in the car. Adorable. 

She's a little firecracker 

I was very happy

And so was Ellie

We liked our party hats

For my birthday, my mom had sent me a little crown to wear.
We sat down for deserts and they gave me some fish fingers and custard (it's a Doctor Who thing).
Luckily I didn't have to eat it! ;) 

My Tardis cookie cake! 

As a present, Laura gave me a picture of 10 signed by David Tenant!
It is now displayed prominently in my room in Provo. 

Making a wish

So yeah! That was my birthday! I'm now 25 which feels pretty old (especially for being in Provo) but I think I've used my time in life fairly well so far! And I'm very grateful for the amazing family that has been there with me every step of the way (even when that way involves driving 8 hours across England and Wales to get to and from Cardiff!). 

My Happy English Christmas

Alright, so after Vienna (spoiled brat that I am) I flew off to England to spend the holidays with my sisters family who live in Nottingham England!

I had a slight catch along the way though- my flight from Vienna was delayed by several hours making my connection in Germany really tight. The guy who sat next to me on my Vienna flight happened to have the same connection and we walked to the gate together (in as much as two strangers who have already been sitting for hours within 2 inches of each other and realize they are going to the same place but don't want to talk can be called 'together'). The problem is that since I was leaving the EU proper, I had to go through security. The dude I was 'with' got by no problem so he must have been an EU citizen. Then I got held up and they were asking about my internship and stuff and I was an idiot and forgot to have my official document from OPCW with me in my carry on. Anyway, the lady let me through but by that time I had missed my flight and the German guy at the gate was NOT being helpful. So then I walked back up and had to go past through security but because I was in a foreign country and nothing was very user friendly (I'm not a total idiot guys) I walked back through security the wrong way. So then I REALLY got in trouble and people were saying scary things in German and I suddenly felt this intense prejudice for Germans (it was so scary!) and then just as suddenly they were all chill like "ok, it's fine you can go through."

It was rather unnerving and I was so tired I kind of wanted to cry.

Well, blah blah blah, got my bags, rebooked my flight and stayed at a hotel right next to the airport that night with a free meal (schnitzel!). My flight left at like 6 am so I didn't get much rest but I DID make my flight so huzzah. Dustin was there to pick me up from the airport and drive me the hour back from Birmingham to Nottingham where I was greeted by the rest of the Shipps!

They have a three bedroom house with both a front and back garden in a nice little area of Nottingham. It's not big but it's comfy. For the duration of my time there I got to be Ellie's roommate- that's my 5 year old niece!

It was a very kid-friendly christmas. Ellie and I made paper chains and snowflakes to decorate the house. I did a toffee treasure hunt for them and we made christmas tree brownies and "reindeer chow" (puppy chow). It was a very different pace than I have been used to these past few months so I had to adjust in that sense but it was great to be with family! Ellie and I especially bonded. Here are some pictures!

Christine (aka "Teeny" cause she's so....Teeny!)

I asked Ellie if we would be friends forever. She said, "I think so!"
I think so too.

Ready for Santa! That's the paper chain Ellie and I made on top there and then we all decorated cheap stockings.
Mine had my signature alien on it :)

I did a lot of pintrest research on fun things to do with kids before I got to England.
Can you tell that I want these kids to like me?

Laura being supermom
I basically came up with all the ideas and then made her implement them!

Roomies
Throughout my time there we couldn't decide whether I was the third parent or the third child.
Maybe a little of both :)

Ellie was VERY preoccupied with her cotton candy on the way back from the Christmas Market.
I did my best to keep her from getting run over.

The final Christmas Market of the year!
But not, funnily enough, the last time I went to it.

The Shipps!

Ellie and I rode a carousel at the Christmas Market in downtown Nottingham.
Ellie's horse was named "Cloudshine"
Mine was named Rupert.

Christmas morning! This is a present from my colleague at OPCW- little Dutch spoons!

I had a VERY Doctor Who Christmas!
I got a WHOdie (get it) and t-shirt from Laura and a onsie from Emily.
Onesies are cool.

It was glorious!

Ellie looked very cute in her Ariel towel from her parents

I got Dustin a marzipan sausage. Because obviously.

We were lacking some of the necessary kitchen equipment for making mashed potates.
So I mashed them with my boot cup that I got in Austria!

Dustin made Christmas dinner!
We had Christmas Crackers and everything!

Teeny was sad to realize that the Christmas Crackers weren't actually edible crackers

Of course for Christmas Eve we also had the annual Hurst talent show and nativity play! We skyped home to STL to talk with my parents and the Johnson family. For my talent I was going to do "I saw three shipps come sailing in" since Laura is pregnant with her third baby but it was actually kind of boring musically. So then I learned "Edelweiss" in honor of my time in Salzburg on the uke. Milo did a piece on the piano, Teeny pretended to ice skate (she has this adorable part where she always pretends to fall down) and Walter threw a magic pinecone in the fireplace. My dad did an epic rendition of the Grinch accompanied by his own miniature Grinch doll. After we all did our talents and had hung up with the STL family we did our own nativity in England. I was both the inkeeper and the angel (as well as the Heavenly Host). That was really cute and I was pretty impressed at my own mastery of the lines. 

Below are just some general ambience pictures from the Christmas period

Ellie is a VERY heavy sleeper.
Which is a good quality in a roommate but makes for a funny
Christmas morning when you are doing everything you can to help her wake up "naturally" 

Teeny showing me her giraffe through the window when I got back from my run

Isn't she adorable?

On Monday, Laura and I went to her happy place- aka the Kitty Cafe!

It was fun and the food was good!

poor Laura needs cats in her life

It was good for her soul to go there

I miss my Cat Bonnie. She was the best- always slept with me, followed me around, and was great at cuddling.
It's a good thing that I have a firm belief there will be animals in Heaven!

I'll leave it there and say it was a great Christmas being with family. And, of course, Christmas isn't really Christmas unless you have some kids around. They are what make it magical!