I love my family!

Yay for the family reunion! I had SO much fun. Like, I was excited for the reunion and stuff, but I just still can't believe what a blast I had! I just really enjoyed every second of talking, laughing, and playing with my siblings, parents, nieces and nephews and everyone! We hiked, we played cards, we swam, we paddle boated, we ate delicious food, we laughed, we sang, we roasted mallows, we played lots of baseball, and just had a grand time! I know you've all probably already seen great pictures from the reunion from Em and Jill's awesome blogs, but I thought I'd post some too just because they're cute :)

It's so true that the best part was watching the kids play together!! They could entertain me for hours! Oh, and I had so much fun singing and dancing with the 4-13 year olds to Hannah Montana and High School Musical. The best part was, I wasn't even pretending... that stuff is right up my alley and I LOVE IT and we just had a great time!! Right guys? I can't count how many times we sang, "The last time I freaked out, I just kept lookin down..." or "What time is it? SUMMER TIME!". And the babies!! MY GOODNESS!! they were such good campers!!! I mean, I'm not one of the mothers or anything, but it seemed to me that they all did well. and they were SO CUTE! I loved watching them play in the dirt and keep up with the older kids. AH- I love those children... all of them!!!!SO SO SO MUCH!!!!!! Being an aunt is the bomb. Seriously- I never tire of playing with my beautiful nieces and nephews!

Mom and Dad rock. That's basically what it comes down to. I love sitting by the camp fire with mom and dad every night and morning. Those are some of the funniest and best times. They put so much work into the reunion and it paid off. We had a great time! Thanks mom and dad!!!

I can't think of a better way to spend a Jolley family reunion, then camping :)

Plaid Shorts Day! Bella, Beth and I

Mom and Justin at Clearwater falls

WHAT A FEELING!

Well let's get right to it... I WENT TO THE AMERICAN IDOL CONCERT!!! Yes boys and girls... I am a very lucky girl :) The wonderful Shellie Woodmansee was so kind and invited me to go with her. I went to to SLC on Saturday and the concert was Monday. Shellie, her mom Cheri, and sister in law Tamara and I went to the concert and I have no words. It was AMAZING and more than I could've expected... let the pictures do the talking :) There are lots for your viewing pleasure, because I know we all miss seeing these people every week!

Kristie Lee Cook...Did you know she lives in Grants Pass, Oregon?!

Ramiel was SO adorable! And sounded so good... I was really impressed.

Carly is BEAUTIFUL!! And you would not BELIEVE the pipes on this girl!!! so good!

Brooke... who doesn't love this girl?!

Syesha... so so pretty, and I had no idea she could sing like she did. holy cow!

JASON CASTRO... need I say more? He was so friendly- he just mingled with us for a long time.

Right before I called him over to come say "HI" to steph on the phone :)

Right before I called him over to say "HI" to Em on the phone :)

The one, the only... DAVID ARCHULETA!!!!!!!! I can't explain to you how kind and wonderful this boy is. And his voice seriously made me cry. It was amazing. He cried too :) They said we were the loudest croud because it was his home town and he cried after his last song and said, "look what you made me do!" look it up on youtube!

The American Idol... David Cook. He was rad and sounded excellent.

Shellie and I. I just love her! We screamed like 12 year olds the whole time... but you know you would have too!

Her voice seriously blew my mind.

I cried on "God Bless America" don't laugh, it was good!!!

and bonus! my good friend Lauren is serving in Temple Square and I found her!!

Jason was beautiful and talented as always in his sweet red shoes! When Brooke stepped on stage, she said... "UTAH- THIS IS THE PLACE!!!!"

It was a dream come true, it really was. I LOVE AMERICAN IDOL. And David A! And Jason Castro... and all of them!!!!!!!!! THANK YOU SHELLIE!!!!!!!!!! I had SO MUCH FUN!

Jenni and Steph's CRAZYYYY night

This is just one cop car... imagine being surrounded by 8 of them. Well, steph and I know what that's like...

Last night, Steph and I returned from our wonderful trip to Oregon for Kelly's wedding. I'll post about that ASAP. But, as we were driving from the Boise airport to Rexburg, we encountered the craziest experience I've EVER EXPERIENCED!!! Trust me, you'll want to read this...

We were just passed Pocatello when we saw 2 cop cars RACING so fast over the overpass and on to the freeway. We made comments like "wow, someone is BUUUSSSSTEEEDD". So the cops passed us and we went on with our drive. A couple of minutes later we saw 2 more cop cars do the same thing. We're like "dannnnng, someone is in trouble.". Then, a couple miles up the road, we see 2 more cop cars from the other side of the freeway flip around and join the rest of the crew. Keep in mind its 11:00 pm so the freeway in Idaho has approximately 3 cars on it. So we're like "what is going on?". Then the cop cars block the freeway with their cars and I'm thinking "if there is someone scary up there, I really dont want to be a part of this". But then the cop cars moved and let us pass so we were like, whatever... cool! Then we see MORE COP CARS! By this time there are atleast 10 and we're starting to panic saying things like "what in the H is going on?!?!?!?!?!" So, at this point, on my right- 2 cops are pulling a punk kid over and we're like ok sweet- they caught him, phewww! But where are the rest of the million cops? Then I drive about another half mile and i see the rest of the cops on the left hand side of the road and when I passed them, I felt a weird bumb and said "WHAT IN THE WORLD WAS THAT?" but in my head I was saying, "we just ran over spikes". And, just as I suspected, about 20 seconds later we started wobbling and I knew I had atleast 1 flat tire. So, I pulled off the the side of the road, beginning to really panic.

I know this has been long already... but trust me... it gets better...

So as I'm pulling over, the car in front of me is pulling over also. They have a flat tire too. All I can think is, "if the cops are trying to catch either me or this guy, I know it's not me, so I'm stuck here with a freaking fugitive!!" So Steph get's out of the car and asks him if he has a flat tire too, and i quickly remind her to get back in the car. We locked the doors and I rolled down my window just a smidge so that I could talk to him. He says in VERY broken english, "no speaky english, i have flat tire, what do I do?" and I told him, "I'm going to call for help". and he says, "will you call for me too". and I say "sure". But, I didn't need to call for help because right at that moment 2 cop cars pull up behind me. I was on the phone with my mom by this time, beginning to cry and so was steph. So the cop comes up and he smiles and says, "WE ARE SO SORRY, BUT WE WERE ON A HIGH SPEED CHASE AND WE THOUGHT IT WAS YOU!". I'm not kidding you guys!!! all of those cop cars on the free way were chasing after ME! and they passed me so that they could put a spike strip in the road to get me!! YIKESSSSSSSS!!!!!! I told the cop I was having a heart attack!! So I got out and he began to put my spare on and inform me that they did catch the bad guy. He also said, " just so you know, the guy that was in charge of all of this is very embarrassed" In the process of the police officer putting my spare on, 5 more cop cars showed up. They all did the same thing, got out of their car and mocked the officer who did it. They said things like "haha, you got the wrong girl." or "you didn't even put the strip out right, because you only got one of her tires not all 4". I felt bad for the guy, they were really giving him a hard time! But seriously- that's quite a mistake! So, they get my stinkin' donut tire on and I proceed to drive the rest of the way to Rexburg going 50 MPH with my hazard lights on. sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesh! Semi trucks were FLYING passed me! we got home at 1:45 am and I felt like I was dreaming!

So today I went into les schwabb and they patched up my tire for free. they loved my story too! If there are any problems with it or if I need a new tire, the cop gave me his card and he's gonna pay for it.

HOLY SMOKES! how's that for a trip home?! I was chased and spiked by the police!!!

Deseret Industries... Great for shopping, Horrible for working

I work at Deseret Industries, better known as the D.I. For many of us, all we know about the D.I is that every couple of months growing up, Ned Christensen would sit in a truck with a beanie on outside of the Stake Center that said 'Deseret Industries' on the side and our moms would make us go drop stuff off in it. I always thought that was weird... but now I get it. Anyway, that's besides the point. The point is- I hate my job. Remember last semester when I would always post about how much I LOVED my SRC job? Well ohhhhh how I miss those days and I can't wait for them to start up again in September.

I work in the section called "Large As Is". What that means in normal person words is that I sort through people's crap that is big. Like furniture, animal cages, bikes, crap like that. I clean it, price it, and then give it to Steph to go put on the sales floor. It is not rare that things are covered in animal hair, poop, or piss. I don't know if there is anything that infuriates me more. Ok maybe there is. How about when people bring things that are CLEARLY BROKEN and nobody would buy... like broken mirrors or broken car seats... SERIOUSLY??? I have to wear crap clothes every day and yes, steel toed boots along with my giant gloves. I work with 99% "special" people who things it's cool to talk all up in my face and to never bathe themselves. My supervisors assume that I am at the intelligence of those "special" people and treat me like one. "Great job, Jenni (said in the kind of voice i use when talking to a baby)... let's see if you can price something right twice in a row!!" OH PALEAAAAASSEEEEEE. I have no desire to please them because I'll never get a raise and if they get mad at me, I could care less because I'm quitting in 4 weeks and would LOVE to get fired. Today, the motivation they gave me was... "if you stay on task all day, I'll let you clean the floors before we close". GOODY! Oh, and it rocks on days like today when it's JUNE 11th AND IT'S SNOWING and people say... can you get this couch out of my truck for me... DO I LOOK LIKE SOMEONE WHO CAN UNLOAD A COUCH IN THE SNOW BY MYSELF?!?!?!?!?! okay, i realize that i'm just venting like crazy and it's getting a little out of hand so I'll stop.

I just keep telling myself that we all have to do our time doing things we don't love. And then I kick myself over and over for not just going home this summer like my mom said I should. But then I realize that I have Steph and she keeps my sane and I wouldnt want her to be alone here. And believe it or not, we have made a few friends at the good ol' D.I from the select 1% that can hold a conversation. when i first blogged about D.I. I believe I said that it was "not glamorous". I would like to change that to SUCKY, BORING, DIRTY, and NOT FOR ME!! I'm certain that this job has a lot to do with the weird bad moods I've been in lately and i hate it.

pheww, that feels better. don't worry guys. only one more month and i'll be in oregon for one week of it. yessssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss!

Listen to your mother

Mothers are always right. Always. I have so many things I want to compain about lately, and when I think about all of them, it all comes down to my mom being right all along. So thanks mom, and sorry I don't listen :). Let me explain. First of all, I would like to publicly apologize for the many times that my parents would walk into the house after a long day of work and I'd be watching Lizzie McGuire or like making cookies or something and completely be ignoring the fact that my friends and I had filthified the house. Or the times that my friends and I would stay up late making all kinds of noise keeping my parents up... well- keeping my mom up. Because now, I'm on the other side of that. Because now, when I walk into the house or am trying to sleep and am presented with the same problem... I tend to think things like, "do you have a brain?", "do you realize how inconsiderate this is?", "Do you realize that there are indeed other people in the world?". Don't worry- I quickly get over those rude thoughts, because I know from time to time I'm guilty of it too. But seriously- that is reason number one why my mom is right. She gave me this list of things to do to be a good roommate and have fun in college and stuff (yes mom, I read that and still have it), and holy moly was she dead on. Every single person at BYUI needs one of those lists.

Secondly, I have been the worlds hugest worry wart lately. Am I going to go to graduate school? Is any graduate school going to accept me? I have nothing to offer them. What is going to happen with Michael? Will I find a job? How am I going to afford this or that? And my mom constantly says, "Jenni, things have worked out well for you so far, they will continue to do so". And I'm like yeah, yeah. But believe it or not, she's right again! I DID find a job, I'm going to graduate from college, and I"m surrounded by people to help me.

And something else, I work at D.I... and proud of it :) but contrary to what you might believe, it is not the most glamorous job in the world. I spend my evenings moving large pieces of furniture (why they put steph and I in the moving furniture department, I WILL NEVER KNOW!), trying to to avoid my creeper co workers who try to hit on us, cleaning out people's freaking dog and bird and rat and whatever else cages, and other similar tasks. BUT- luckily I am with steph,and also there are a handful of people there who are awesome and we have a blast. So most of the time we can make it fun. But there are those moments when I'm like "this sucks, sucks, sucks, sucks... why can't I be behind a desk somewhere?" But then I always think about my parents who work so hard! and then I feel like a selfish brat and buck up! I mean seriously, you all know my parents, think about how hard they work... they're bomb.com.

Anyway, I know this is going to sound like a big suck up blog to my siblings hahahaha!! But it's not!! I'm just realizing some things as I get older that my parents have always taught me but it makes more sense when you actually experience it.

Good News!

I've got good news to share with the world today... bunches of it!

First of all, I am completely healthy- YAY!!! That nasty throat business lingered far too long, but I am feeling great!

Second of all, I AM EMPLOYED!! By... DESERET INDUSTRIES!! yes ladies and gents, I work for the D.I. Wait you haven't heard the best part yet, Steph is too!!!! hahahaha it's just too perfect. When she told her dad, he said "what are you 2 going to do when you get married". We both stopped a worried for a second and then just decided that the single one will move in with the married ones :). I am also doing an internship right now, but it's only 3 hours a day and not paid, so this job is going to keep me busy and keep me out of the poor house. I can't even tell you what a blessing it is that I found a job in Rexburg in the middle of a semester. I'm so grateful! Ever since I got hired, I'm so much happier- such a huge relief!! I start on Thursday!

Next, Michael called me on mothers day!!!!!!!!!! I cannot begin to describe to you how wonderful those 10 minutes and 58 seconds were! It was as if we talk on the phone every day or something. Nothing was weird, no silence or awkwardness. We were just best friends again catching each other up on our lives as much as we could in the time we had. He is SO happy and it was just so so great!! I know that everyone has different opinions about missionaries calling their girls, but honestly- i don't care! He was allowed to and we're both happy and everythings going great soooo- yeah!

Also, I have been called as the FHE mom. This may sound lame, but it's totally not! Because here's what I've realized, if you want to have fun at FHE- then it rocks to be the mom because your kind of in control of group unity and whether or not it's fun! For our first FHE we had a cinco de mayo fiesta with delicious food and it was great. Last night we decorated sugar cookies and ate most of them, but gave lots away too. I think it's going to be a great FHE semester which I'm thankful for, because I need a good FHE group because since I'm not taking classes, I won't be meeting people on campus.

AND- I have a car! yayayayayay!! and I LOVE IT! oh the freedom is just amazing!!! I go to the grocery store whenever I want!! I can go pick up steph whenever I want!! I can drive myself to work. I'm sure my roommates appreciate it too. It is so great! And I'm learning a thing or two about budgeting and car payments. THANK YOU MOM AND DAD!

I feel like there is more... I'm sure there is! The sun is shining today and tomorrow we're going to a radical show here in rexburg, so things are going well. :) I'm so blessed!

One year down

Elder Michael Woodmansee has been serving his mission for 1 whole year as of today! That is actually really weird to say, I cannot believe it has been a year. It is even weirder to think that in one year from today, he will be home. Ok I'm not going to lie- that thought makes me really happy! Anyway, he is doing fabulous!! He is SO happy!! That boy only has good, enthusiastic, optimistic things to say and it's so wonderful! He loves Taiwan and the Taiwanese people and it seems he's gotten along well with all of his companions so far. But it's actually really easy to get along with Michael so that doesn't suprise me. Anyway, it's a happy day :). A LOT has happened in the past year and even more is going to happen in the upcoming year as I get ready to graduate and all kinds of crazy stuff so, it'll be very interesting to see how this all plays out. I'm just so happy for him!

I just find this picture very comical and radical hahahaha!