Weddings, Weddings, Weddings

I'm in the season of life where every other person I know is getting married. That means 5 weddings for me this summer. The wedding craziness that I was a part of in June was unreal.

First was Jillian and Josh's wedding and it was beautiful and very elegant. Jillian and I have been friends since high school and although we haven't stayed in contact consistently, I wouldn't have missed her wedding for the world. My favorite part was their wedding favors: stick on mustaches and a mixed CD. Classy.

Jen & Chris Creed Photographers
 

Second, was Sydney and Clint's wedding. I was the Maid of Honor and oh my was it exhausting. Following her everywhere before the wedding to pick up her train was harder than I thought it would be. I loved it though and was happy to do it. The ceremony was absolutely beautiful, Clint cried the whole time, and it couldn't have been sweeter.

Captivated By Him Photography



The last wedding in June was Whitney and Tyler's. Remember that awesome engagement I was a part of in October? Yup, they got married. The only way I can describe their wedding is "Pinterest perfect". It was eclectic, in a barn, and red and blue. They have created a standard that I know my wedding will never live up to, but I was so happy to be part of their big day!

Picture taken by
Jordan Jung

What are some of your favorite weddings that you've been to this summer? What made them so great?

Exciting Things Are Happening

April 15th was the last time I blogged and other than paying my taxes, a lot has happened since then. Here's a peek at my last 2 months:

1. I GRADUATED COLLEGE!

       That's right, I'm now Miss Janah James B.A. (I know, no one actually puts that at the end of their name, but after 4 long and hard years, I really want to sometimes.) I am also currently unemployed, so you know, if you know anyone that needs to hire someone who's very skilled in marketing/communications/public relations/social media and/or French, send them my way.

2. I'm moving back to Lexington
       While it's been great living with my parents again, I miss my independence. Don't get me wrong. I have a great relationship with my parents, love them dearly, and am very thankful for all their provision, but I'm just in that stage of life. It's time to be on my own.
        I'll have two roommates (Sharayah being one) and we've found a SUPER adorable house we're going to rent. More to blog about later.

3. I learned how to breathe fire
        Yup, I may as well join the circus (which seems like a reasonable option at this point of still being jobless). Check out the sweet picture. 'Merica.

4. Tyler and I got to meet and hang out with The Lone Bellow

        I've blogged about The Lone Bellow and how amazing their music is, but hearing it live is even better. Tyler and I may fall into the groupie/obsessed category at this point, since we'll be making our third trip in 3 months to hear them, but we have no shame. Not only do they make great music, but they're genuinely great people. Check out when they played on Jay Leno. AMAZING!

5. Sydney is finally getting married!
    Tomorrow is the big day! I'm her very excited Maid of Honor and can't wait! I'll be sure to post pictures soon.

Oh, and I'm still with this guy. I'm so thankful for him :)

 

Building Community

Choosing to spend  my four years of college at Asbury was certainly one of the best decisions I've ever made. Asbury really seeks to build and encourage community among students and faculty, both on and off campus. I have greatly benefited from it and have an amazing group of friends that I'm going to miss tremendously.

This past weekend, and the previous weekend, were both full of events. Here are some snapshots in both still and moving picture form.

Junior Senior with Cassie

I have enjoyed living with Cassie for the past three years. She has been a very kind, caring, and loving roommate. I'm sure she won't miss me talking in my sleep or tendency to lose everything, but I'll certainly miss her.

This past week were the Legacy Games, which are a campus wide competition between classes. Although my class failed to leave our legacy this year, we came in second. Here's a clip from Wednesday when we played Korean War.

The cap  event of the week was The Finale. It was a dance to celebrate the end of the week of events and was a ton of fun. It was superhero themed and some of us really got into it. In the beginning of the video you can see Zach on the left who created an iPad app with the Green Lantern symbol. Some of my friends are nerds.

Like I said, the community I've been a part of at Asbury has been a great blessing. The past two years I've been praying for a community that I could be a part of once I graduate. With only three weeks (that's right, only three) that prayer has been answered.

Tyler and I are both involved in a Missional Community in downtown Lexington. It's been challenging, encouraging, and exactly what I was praying for. Yesterday, we cooked out and played wiffle ball in Woodland Park.

If you're in the Lexington area, we'd love to have you join us. Click HERE for more info.

I have found community to be vitally important. I am so thankful for the community I've been part of for the past four years and am excited to see what my new community will become.

Staying Organized

I like to think of myself as organized. Some might say that I'm pretty type A when it comes to organization. I just wish everyone could understand the value in organization just as I do. While it seems confusing at first, it certainly makes life much much easier.

Here are my favorite apps that help me stay organized so that I'm on top of school work, work work, and finances.

I'm often told I have a great memory. What people don't realize is that I write everything down and when I say everything, I mean EVERYTHING. This is the beauty of Evernote.

Evernote is both an app and a computer program (for both Mac and PC users). You can create different notebooks to write notes, insert pictures, website links, and more. I track finances, my exercise routines, church, and work notes. It's beautiful and organized!

Another favorite app of mine is Mint.com. You can link your bank accounts to this app so all your purchases are tracked and categorized. You can see how much money you're spending on different items every month and keep a budget.

Before I started using Mint.com, I was terrible at keeping a monthly budget. I do great with colors and numbers that help me categorize. Needless to say, it has helped me tremendously.

This app won't be helpful to you unless you're in school, but Grades 2 is great for keeping track of the grades in all of your classes.

You can enter in each assignment, the percentage of each assignment, and it calculates your grades for you! My favorite feature is that I can put in my target grade and it will tell me what I need to get on each assignment in order to reach that target. Brilliant right?

Now that I'm having to do my own grocery shopping, I've learned the value and strategy of making a shopping list. ShopShop is a simple, yet very helpful app that allows you to create different shopping lists so you can categorize your items and move them around within the list. Once the item is in the cart, you check it off your list and it disappears. I love it.

My roommate might not agree that I'm organized when it come to my chest of drawers, jewelry, or desk, but my iPhone is and that's what's important, right?

It's Baseball Season

Now that basketball season is officially over, we can all really focus on the great American game ... baseball.

Don't get me wrong, I love basketball. I live in the middle of the Big Blue Nation and was a cheerleader for 9 years. I've been to a basketball game, or two, or a thousand. When spring rolls around and finally decides to make its appearance, no one wants to be inside. It's much more enjoyable running out outside or sitting in the warm sunshine cheering out your favorite team at a baseball game.

Last Wednesday was the Cincinnati Reds's Opening Night. Being the great girlfriend that I am, I bought killer seats for this eventful evening for Tyler.

Although I've been a Reds fan for sometime, my level of commitment increased significantly when I realized that I would no longer be able to relate to Tyler well without being a more serious fan.  So I invested in a Joey Votto jersey (my favorite Reds player).

We got to the park a bit later than we wanted to, but still made it in time for the first pitch thrown by Turtle Man, enjoyed sunflower seeds, and the Cincy favorite Skyline Chili.

It was absolutely freezing, but the Reds won in the bottom of the 9th thanks to a great hit by Votto that gained him a RBI.

I can't wait to go again this Monday to see the Reds take on the Phillies with my friends from New Jersey who are Phillies fans. I'm so glad spring is here! 

    

I Learn French

 In first grade I remember wanting to be an astronaut. After becoming terrified at the thought of going into space, I wanted to be a teacher. Teacher turned into a pianist, pianist turned into doctor, and doctor turned into the next Katie Couric (you can't deny that Janah James is a perfect news anchor/talk show hostess name). While I would still kill for her former position on the Today Show, my major of choice will never lead to that.

I learn French.

via

  The French are morbid, but they are the BEST at writing about the woes of life. Go watch Les Mis and you'll understand what I mean. Through all the melancholy imagery and depressing stanzas, the words are beautiful and empathetic.

When people ask what my major is I start out by saying Communications and then add French. At first they're impressed and then they ask, "so what are you going to do? Teach?" They make it sounds so useless. Maybe one day I'll teach, but what a better way to enrich and diversify your life than learning a tongue, that is so deeply linked to culture, and foreign to your own?

My French classes are some of my favorites. My high school French teacher is who inspired me most and planted the seed of my love for the language. I am by no means an expert or close to fluent. I still make silly mistakes and mix up words, like when I wrote about the French royal hereditary laundry instead of hereditary line.

I'm still learning.

I learn French and many may think it's dumb, but I love it.

    

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This post was written in response to the post "I teach French" written by Hannah on her blog The Art in Life. Although we've never met, I'm a devoted reader and share her love for all things French, Washington DC and primary colors.

Also, she blogged a great crepe recipe that included goat cheese, bacon, and honey. Sharayah and I made them and even took on her challenge to flip them. They're awesome.

 

No More Grays

For those of you who know me and see me often, you know that my natural hair color is ... unique.

Since I was 13, I've had a ridiculous about of gray hair. Just like I was in my 30's, it started out with just a few gray hairs here and there. Almost 9 years later, there are WAY more than a few gray hairs. Sharayah guessed that nearly 1/5 of my hair was gray. I say that was on the conservative side.

I used to take pride in my hair. I received lots of compliments on it, especially from my younger friends. I would always quote Proverbs 16:31, "Gray hair is a crown of splendor; it is attained in the way of righteousness." (NIV) Humble, right?

It was time for a change.

I tried to find a good picture to show my gray hair, but it doesn't appear well in pictures. Just ask anyone who knows me, I'm sure they've noticed it.


 Last night, after practice, Cassie agreed to dye my hair and it turned out great.

What do you think?