Joyfully Jen

Nothing is better than the Holiday Season. It is a great time of year where everyone is in a great mood! I get so excited when the first snow fall hits. There is also something special about picking out a christmas gift for the special people in your life. When you find the right gift, there is nothing more rewarding than watching their face as they open it. More importantly than that, the holidays are a great time to be with your family. The older you get the more christmas means to you. It's not about the gifts you receive anymore as much as it is about who you spend the time with. That is the spirit experienced throughout this season, and it warms my heart to think about it. This past thanksgiving I really realized the meaning of the holiday season. My aunt has been in the hospital for a couple weeks since she had a stroke. She was devastated knowing she would be missing out on our thanksgiving meal, but more importantly that she wouldn't be able to spend time with the f

Something that has always been enjoyable for me is cooking. It is a great way to clear your head, experiment and get creative while at the same time you create something that you are proud of! Pinterest has been my best friend when it comes to coming up with new and exciting recipes. The last one I made was a new favorite of mine that my roommate showed me, therefore I will share it with you! Ingredients: 2 teaspoons salt, divided 1 1/4 teaspoons fresh cracked black pepper 1 large spaghetti squash (about 2 pounds) 4 slices bacon, cut into small strips crosswise 2 teaspoons minced garlic 1/4 cup chicken broth 2 egg yolks plus 1 whole egg 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese Directions: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Prick the squash all over with a fork.  Sprinkle with 1 tsp salt and 3/4 tsp. pepper. Roast on a foil lined pan  1 to 1 1/2 hours. (I did 60 mins but would go longer next time)  Let cool a bit.  Slice in half lengthwise, scoop out seeds and shred the s

Today in one of my classes we were watching a TED talk by Shawn Achor titled The Happy Secret To Better Work . This inspired me to write a blog today that is a little different then what I have been doing. This talk challenged me to think a lot about my own life and how I measure success in the work place, or even at school. This video mentioned that the typical process we go through is working hard at our daily tasks, which leads to success which then leads to happiness. Shawn mentions that this doesn't work because once we reach that state of happiness we then change our standards to be harder. For example if we were to work extra hard in school to get all A's and B's on our report card we would be happy once we achieved that, but after we achieve it we would then set higher and harder standards for the next time for example getting all A's on the next report card. Because of this mind set that we always need to be getting better and better we stress ourselves out

Exercise is an important part of our daily routines. It not only is physically good for you but it is mentally good for you as well. You get  a sense of pride from working out. I am not the most fit person out there, in fact I have been slacking in that area but I still appreciate it when I make the time for it. My favorite part about working out is the confidence you gain in yourself after your workout is done. You not only feel better but you think much more highly of yourself. I personally feel happier when I get a good routine going to help me work out. It is one of the best ways to clear your mind, and relieve yourself of stress. I am no fitness guru so I have to look up a lot of my exercises. I find most of them on Pinterest. That is probably the first place I look especially when I am trying to work out a certain part of my body. If I am wanting to run I usually use the Nike app to track how far I run and how far I've ran in the past. One of my favorite ways to exercis

            Four years ago I would have told you that I wasn't going to join a sorority in college. I didn't think it was something I was interested in, and I definitely didn't want to be seen as the typical sorority girl. That quickly changed when I got to school. My roommate was all about Greek Life. Her whole family was apart of it in their college careers and she wanted to follow in their footsteps. She managed to convince me to go through recruitment and I never knew how much I would appreciate that in the future.             It wasn't until I moved into the Pi Phi house my sophomore year when I began to truly learn what sisterhood really meant to me. It wasn't just the philanthropy, or the rituals that bind you. It's the memories you make along the way and that is by far the most rewarding aspect of sorority life. You always hear "These are the best four years of your life" but you never know what that means until it's about to be gone.  

With all the daily drama living in people's lives, the stress of school, or work it is easy to lose track of yourself. Sometimes you just need to take yourself away from all of the stress for a bit to let yourself forget about it. That's how I spent my day toady. I went out to a local forest preserve and just hiked. Midterms week has just passed us, and after a long week of school plus a busy weekend, some time alone was much needed. I decided heading to the forest preserve would be a great way to take a load off because not only is hiking a great way to get in some exercise but being almost the end of October, I knew the leaves on the tree's would just be breathtaking. There's something special about experiencing the beauty in nature. It makes you realize what an amazing place it is we live in. I am a very outdoorsy type of person. When I need a chance to just think and relax there's no place I'd rather be than outdoors taking it all in. Spending tim

When I was scrolling through my twitter  feed today I saw this article posted called 5 ways to get happy fast. The five steps listed were: 1. Close your eyes and take a few slow, deep breaths. 2. Doodle 3. Sing out loud 4. Laugh it off 5. jump! Besides these five points, it had one specific point added in that stuck out to me at the beginning of the article: Dance. I love to dance. Some of my happiest moments are when I am dancing. By no means am I a good dancer (and I'm sure my parents are pleased by that after all the money they spent on dance lessons through my life) but there's something that happens when you dance that just makes you and everyone around you happy. It is a time to just let go and be free without a worry in the world. It's more fun to dance crazy in a big group because it gives you and all your friends something to laugh about, and everyone knows laughter is the best medicine! I especially love dancing with my friends because we just act goof

Dogs, or even pets in general are truly inspiring to think about. They are probably the only creatures on this planet who truly have the ability to love unconditionally. You show a dog an ounce of love and he will forever be your friend. They are the best listeners, companions, and friends. Not to mention they're adorable and you can't help but smile when you are around them. I have always been a huge dog lover. My family had a golden retriever named Casey since before I was born. He was the sweetest most gentle and beautiful dog. Although, it's hard to find a golden retriever you don't find adorable in my opinion. He was always excited to see us when we came home and never failed to put a smile on our faces. He passed away early on in my life but his memory has always been a happy one.  When I was in the fourth grade we finally got our second dog, Cody, a yellow lab. Cody is quite the character. We like to say that he is more of a people person. When we take hi

This blog is slightly different then my past posts. Instead of writing about specific things in my life that make me happy, I am going to talk about aspects I find internally touching.  These issues deal with my way of thinking, and therefore effect my happiness by changing the way I look at certain situations. I came across a writer named Dani Dipirro who has a blog titled Positively Present . Dani  realized after 25 years of living with a negative attitude she wanted to turn her life around and start focusing on the positives. She uses her blog to focus on finding the positives and embracing the present in her life. This blog caught my attention because I consider myself a positive person but often catch myself thinking negativly about the past. Dani focuses on living in the present and not letting the past hinder your happiness. I'm sure a lot of people can relate to this. One particular post I enjoyed was titled " Don't wait for love: 10 ways to love yourself now

On the following website I found a quiz containing nine or ten questions. Your answers to these questions are supposed to tell you what ultimately defines your happiness.  This got me thinking about what ultimately made me happy.   http://www.forbes.com/ sites/ilyapozin/2014/03/06/20- companies-you-should-be- following-on-social-media/ .  Wh en I took this test it, told me that I am an Artisan. The following paragraph was also provided. “You feel happiest when you are completely engaged and absorbed in an activity that you enjoy, particularly when you have a certain talent and mastery over what you are doing. Psychologists describe this state as 'flow'. Reading, playing music or sport, doing DIY, cooking; all are activities that provide a sense of flow and happiness. You take pleasure both in what you are doing, and in the internal feeling of being absorbed in something that demands your skill and attention. The only risk is that concentrating only on activities that re

This past weekend was family weekend here at Bradley University. My mom, dad, sister, and brother-in-law all came down to visit. We spent all of  Saturday  together barbecuing with my friends and their families.  On Sunday  we went to Tanners Apple Orchard. This weekend is what really inspired me when writing this week’s blog. I am an emotional roller coaster because it's my last year here at Bradley. I keep thinking about all of the lasts I have to experience. I'll be leaving all the friends I have made here and will be undergoing tremendous lifestyle changes in just under a year. I'm not only thinking about the sad things, but also about the excitement that comes with searching for a full time job, finally making it to graduation, and never having homework again. Going along with this, I also think about everything I have been through over the past few years. College has put me through some of the best times in my life and some of the worst. I have had many men

Often times we aren’t very appreciative of everything we have in our lives. I can personally say that I take most things in my life for granted and I am positive I am not the only one.  This past  Saturday  I volunteered at Loaves and Fish This is a weekly event the First United Methodist Church hosts. The purpose of this event is to provide the less fortunate with hot meals, pantry food items to take home, a worship service, and health related check ups. Every time I go to this event my heart breaks a little bit more. It is crazy to think that there are so many people who need this extra help just to get through their daily lives. Many of these people, I'm sure, never receive it. It's crazier to think that there are still people in our community who need a helping hand. It is impossible to get the proper amount of care to everyone who needs it.  It makes me realize how lucky I am to have a family that cares about me, a roof over my head, friends by my sid

When making the transformation from high school to college, one of the biggest worries we have is whether or not you will stay close with your friends from high school or if you will be able to make new friends. This was a major worry for me because most of my friends were going to the same college while I was not. I have been friends with the majority of the same group of people since kindergarten. They are family to me. They’ve been there for basically every major life event I have been through for as long as I can remember. It's impossible for me to imagine a life where I never met them. Absolutely nothing in my life would be the same without them. They have helped shape me into the person I am today. I wouldn’t want it to have been any other way. Luckily I have been able to stay in touch with them as we are finishing up our senior year of college. I am blessed to say that I believe our friendships have only grown with our time spent apart. We make time for each othe

I had a hard time coming up with a topic I wanted to write about for this blog. Over the past weekend I came across this quote that made me really think about all the negative things that are so prevalent in our lives. This quote inspired me to come up with some sort of topic that gave me an outlet to think about all of the positive things life has to offer. Being a senior in college, thinking about graduation and all that it includes can be a lot to handle at times. I can’t even begin to explain how sad it makes me to think my time here at Bradley is coming to an end. If I could, I would do it all over again the exact same way time and time again. I met some of my best friends here, and created memories that will stay with me forever. I am currently beginning to plan for the next phase of my life which mainly entails job searching. Job searching is not only an exciting thing, but it can be very stressful and draining as well. Staying positive throughout the whole experience is