upward focused.

I am so  incredibly,  immensely,  deeply blessed  by  the  Lord  who  has  placed  such  an  amazing  man into  my  life.

Continued... Drove through the night.  Good idea? Probably not.  But it gave us more time in other places.  Plus the states we missed:  Our Kansas Arkansas and Oklahoma.  I am okay with that.  Rotated drivers probably every two hours.  We all were getting so tired.  Couldn't sleep in the back.  Restless.  Watched Dan drive.  Saw him start blinking for longer amounts of time.  Woke up Arthur.  Told him to pull over because he was FALLING ASLEEP.  Switched drivers.  Finally the morning the came.  Stopped at a truck stop to shower.  It was so nice!! Erika and I got us a deal on showers from the janitor.  After we were finally clean, we ate breakfast.  The waitress thought Dan was crazy.  His laugh was so loud.  We were delirious.  Drove some more.  Got a hotel.  Slept like babies. 

Lets see if I can sum up the rest of the road trip in one more blog post.  I left off after day two, seeing the smaller but FREE version of a waterfall that was just as cool, practically visiting the United Kingdom and seeing Foamhendge, and finishing the day off with pictures next to the largest guitar we had ever seen.   And of we go finishing the rest of the trip...

Normally, I don't get too excited for the holiday season until about November but this year everything has changed. Maybe it's because I am extremely excited for these next few months because I get to spend them with the man I love and my wonderful family and friends.  So many great things will be happening!

6 long years ago I was a 16 year old high school student without many cares in the world, playing soccer every day and hanging out with friends in between that.  Homework wasn't a top priority and my future was too far away to care too much about.  But looking back I would have slapped myself upside the head and nodded in disapproval at the sheer laziness I possessed.  I wish I would have taken my life more serious because little did I know, what happens in the future is dependent upon your actions in the past.  

I've talked about the trip to New York, the craziness of trying to buy a car, and the adorable proposal that all took place within the first couple days of this road trip we were going on.  Now its time to talk about the road trip itself.  What we had planned for the first day of the road trip was to leave bright and early at 8:00AM, bags packed and car filled up with gas. However, as life particularly goes... we were late.  We ended up leaving at around 1:00PM after picking up the rental car (which took a while), eating pizza waiting for the rental car (a great way to pass time), and watching the rain POUR outside the small car rental shop.  Interesting start to our trip but still good, nonetheless.   If you have not heard of roadtrippers.com, you really should check it out! It made our trip even more fun because we were able to stop at these oddball stops that no one has really heard about, that weren't the typical "tourist" stops. Erika had mapped out what stops

I don't really know what to label this blog post because I am not really sure what I even want talk about.  Currently I am at work, on this cold, dark, EARLY Friday morning.  Not to mention, my LAST Friday before school starts... booo.  BUT on the bright side, I only have two terms left until I graduate.  This term is going to be pretty hard with four business classes that contain a lot of finances and math.  Thankfully I have a very intelligent boyfriend who works in the financial industry so I will be able to get some help from him :). I have come to realize I am an avid dreamer.  I love planning for my future which is a good thing, but also a bad thing.  Proverb 27:1 says:  "Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring." In planning and dreaming up my future,  I need to allow room for God to work in my life because ultimately, he has a perfect plan for my life if I just listen.  I love to travel but maybe God has a plan for me to s

At first, I had no idea that I was going to get to witness a proposal but come to find out, Taylor didn't really expect to propose at first either.  We stayed in New York at Erika's parent's house for a couple nights before embarking on our road trip.  It was in this time that Taylor was going to talk to Erika's parents about proposing.  They talked for a while and then it was mentioned that Taylor should ask her at party they were throwing for all three kids, in front of all her closest friends and family. At first it was just talked about, but then it was decided.  He was going to ask her that night! Taylor pulled Arthur and I aside and told us the news. We were shocked...and so excited! Taylor had brought the ring to New York to go along with us on our road trip with the idea of possibly proposing somewhere along the road. It was too perfect to wait though.  He was going to ask her in a few hours.   The party got started and many of Erika's friends and family s

Things I don't understand completely: Credit Card companies that don't accept your application because "insufficient credit information".... how do they expect someone to get credit if they don't give them a credit card?! When job searching, entry level jobs that REQUIRE at least 1-2 years of experience in that industry.  If all these jobs are like this, where do these companies expect a person to get experience if someone can't get a job because they don't have experience?? Rant: over.

It has been extremely long since I have written in this blog last... I think it may be because I haven't had homework or tests to procrastinate from, or I have just had a busy summer.   The road trip, which seems like forever ago was a complete success.  We all had such an amazing time.  There was a lot of bonding (I guess that is expected when you're stuck in a car for 7 days with the same people), a lot of laughter, a few arguments, not much sleep, a lot of driving (5400 miles), good food, awesome sights, and A LOT of pictures. Not to mention...TAYLOR AND ERIKA GOT ENGAGED!! It was adorable.  I had never witnessed a proposal before that and it was even cuter than I could ever dream up!  As I mentioned before, we took a red eye flight to New York (don't do that if you can't sleep on planes.. ahem *Arthur).  We got into New York at 530 AM where Erika was waiting to take us back to her parents house.  Our original plan wasn't to rent a car, but Arthur was going t

I haven't talked about my plan for the next 10 days much because I wasn't exactly sure I was going to go until yesterday.. BUT Everything worked out. I finished what I needed to. I got my shifts at work covered. Which means...I'm going on a road trip! People : Arthur, his friend Taylor, and his girlfriend Erika and her brother. Duration : 10 Days. States : 13 of em'! Reason :  To pick up Erika, who is moving here for the summer.  Their story is adorable, and so are they.  Long story short, they have been in a long distance relationship for about 1.5 years and the longest time they have spent together is a little more than a week.  And now they get a whole summer! Our plan is to fly to New York TONIGHT ( red eye ) and go to Taylor's girlfriends parent's house.  We will spend two nights in NY and then start our road trip back to Eugene.  We got a car which means 5 people..in a 5 person car.  Comfortable, right?! I'm not exactly sure where we are

I am the type of person to get really stressed over practically anything. If my room is messy... I'll get stressed. If I ordered the wrong food, I'll get stressed..(no, really. It's ridiculous , I know.) I allow myself to get so overwhelmed with everyday life, and worldly/selfish ambitions that I become so preoccupied with the current situation, and it doesn't allow me to focus on the one who can sustain me and give me a peace that surpasses all understanding.  When I get stressed, it's as if I am telling God I don't trust in His plan. We are called to rejoice in tribulation, because it builds character. We are not to get stressed in situations, which overtakes our joy and the ability to joyfully praise God, which we are called to do. The Bible doesn't tell us to rejoice once or twice, it tells us to rejoice ALWAYS. Through everything. That means even through "stressful" situations. And I am not saying that when I order the wrong food it is a &

Before I went to Spain I was a very picky eater.  I would eat the foods I knew I liked, and I never really eat outside of the bun box.  In Spain, I lived in a homestay with a Spanish family.  They were fantastic, but knew little English.. which wasn't too big of a dilemma because I can converse well in Spanish. However, sometimes my Spanish mom would go on rants at lunch time and in order to understand Spanish, I would have to pay a lot of attention to what she was saying.  Sometimes my mind just wanted to relax, think about other things..  So as she rambled on, I just sat there nodding and eating and thinking about my own things.  However, often times she would talk about what we were eating, which means I would miss out on what food I was consuming.  This caused me to be not as picky, and just eat what was in front of me and try new things.   It was good! Because now I'm not very picky when it comes to food. exception: not a fan of chili.   I've noticed lately

I've  been off today.  I started the day at 5:30am, which could have been part of the problem, but the bigger issue was my MIND! I think I have figured it out.   Sometimes it's hard to rejoice with others in their successes.  Instead, we tend to get jealous. It's a very selfish dilemma.  It's easy to say "I am so happy for you!", with a fake smile on your face as you secretly wish it was you who got the A on the test, you who got the new job, you who are an expert at piano, or dancing, or singing.   Jealousy is the most uncontrollable sin.  So how do we quit?   Romans 12:15 says: Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Sure, it's inspiring to read, but when you are put in that situation, it is much easier to think that than to actually put it in action.   I was feeling down because I watch people around me excel at so many things and do well at all sorts of things but leave it to me to be jealous! [c'mon girl!]

One last thing.. I have to post the link to my favorite blog.  This blog is written by Diane Comer, the pastor's wife of Solid Rock up in Portland, OR. She is such a wise woman, and her posts are so interesting! Check it out. http://www.hespeaksinthesilence.com/ Now here are some links to my other social media websites :) Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jenessa.dewitt Twitter: https://twitter.com/jenessa_dewitt LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jenessadewitt Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/jenessabrooke/ Thanks :) J.

Considering I can't even think of a sentence to start this blog out with, this may be harder than I thought.  Blogging has never been of much importance to me as I go on living my everyday life.  I should have figured this though, if the stacks of blank journals that lie around my room are any indication of my ability to sit down and write about my day, or anything for that matter. In fact I just finished filling out my first journal ever, from front to back.  [ proud moment ]  Most of the other journals may have started out strong, maybe 5 pages filled out or if I was really motivated, possibly even 10! I don't know who will read this, if anyone, but the point of it (as for right now, as goals do change) is to keep it updated, practice my writing skills per se. I think blogs are so interesting! I can sit down and read through blog after blog, and what a cool thing to have for my family or friends to read, possibly my children in the future too.  If all else fails, at least