Clutch Win for the Illini

It must have been my praise for Mike Davis that gave Illinois the umph they needed to pull out a clutch win vs. Clemson last night. At halftime it wasn't looking good but, never fear, the Illini came roaring back from a 23 point deficit. Katherine and I watched the game together and much excitement ensued at the final buzzer. Not only did our win give the Illini fans a much needed boost, it also helped the Big 10 win the Big 10/ACC Challenge for the first time...Ever! Now that was some good basketball.

Mike Davis

James Augustine will always be my favorite Illinois basketball player, but he's gone so I had to find a reasonable substitute. So I welcome Mike Davis as my favorite Illini. Mike is my fave for several reasons that are not limited to his bball skillz. First, he is super tall, which means he can slam a dunk like no one else on the team. He's awesome at ooping those alley oops and doing it with style. Mike looks like he has fun on the court and that's good to see. At one of the last games I worked, the guys were warming up before the doors opened and "Party in the USA" by Miley Cyrus came on. Not only did Mike start smiling and dancing but he proceeded to sing all the lyrics - word for word. Good job, Mike, having diverse musical tastes and not being afriad of them. Last but not least, I had a Mike Davis siting today. I was walking to the Speech and Hearing building to go over a presentation before class when I spotted a tall, skinny, black guy in athletic apparel but I didn't want to be a total creeper and re-route myself awkwardly to confirm that it was Mike Davis. So, I hurried inside and told my friend Katherine (fellow Illini Basketball die hard fan) that I thought he was sitting outside our building. She came to the door with me to look out and was also pretty sure that it was him. Just then an ASL teacher came into our classroom for the projector and took it, leaving the door open. Then we see a TV cart being rolled down the hallway pushed by none other than Mike Davis. Which means that not only was Mike Davis, basketball extroadinaire, in my building but he is also taking ASL (American Sign Language). You go Mike Davis for brancing out from obscure African languages (like certain other basketball players) to taking ASL and learning about Deaf Culture. I had been waiting a while to write this post but today's event sealed the deal that Mike Davis is indeed my favorite current Illini basketball player.

Te Quiero, España

I just had a major attack of “I miss Spain.” It could be that I’d had a rather overwhelming day or that I was listening to a thought-provoking Christmas song, or because of a recent visit from my study abroad amiga, Elyse. I’m not sure, but it hit me hard. I was looking at countries in Africa on Google maps and when I zoom out and see Spain something automatically makes me zoom in towards Spain and, like a magnet, I’m drawn to Bilbao, secretly wondering if I can get all the way to street level and actually see the buildings. However, I settled for seeing my street and the path I walked to the metro every day and looking at the large brown area where Deusto is and the little shopping bag marking El Corte Ingles. All this made me very nostalgic for a time almost 3 years ago when I set off on my first life adventure. I just really missed the feeling I had every day there: that I was doing something new and exciting. I missed the smells: Teresa’s cooking, my room, and even the smells of wine and cigarette smoke. I even miss the rain in Spain and having Txuko’s dog hair all over my clothes. I miss seeing centuries-old buildings every day, seeing the cliffs surrounding my beach, seeing the shiny Guggenheim. I miss my life there. When school work was practically non-existant, time didn’t matter, and my afternoons were spent napping, hanging out at the beach, and planning travel adventures around the continent. It’s mostly the everyday things like riding the metro with Courtney and walking with Leah to school, sipping Cola Cao or a Kalimotxo, shopping in Casco Viejo, hearing Teresa say “ya esta la comida.” I am so glad that I remember that semester so fondly and vividly and have such great memories but so sad that they are so far away.

Yay for December!

So, I'm kind of against winter. Meaning that I seriously dislike it. I don't like snow that comes with ice that makes me fall when I'm walking and scared to drive my car. I don't like seeing my breath, I prefer it to stay invisible. I don't like putting on 50 million layers of clothes and still being chilled to the bone to walk 5 minutes to class. I do, however, like December. So, in celebration of probably my favorite month (and because I've been a total lazy blogger this month) I present to you: The 10 Things I Love About December!

10. Coziness: It's nice to be able to wear my comfy sweatpants and curl up with hot chocolate and a big warm blanket.

9. Shopping: I love doing my Christmas shopping! I love putting together my list and hunting for just the right things. This year I'm going to be done early and then I get to wrap them which is also a lot of fun.

8. Sweaters: I love sweaters and December means I can unpack the winter clothes and they are like brand new! I really like looking at my stacks of sweaters (arranged in color order) in my closet when choosing what to wear for the day.

7. Cold Level: There's just enough change in weather to warrant a wardrobe change (see #8), but it's not quite cold enough to be frozen all the time.

6. Quest Volunteer Party: For the volunteer party at my church this year we are doing a murder mystery dinner and it is going to be legendary. That's right. Since I'm helping plan, I know the whole plot but it will be so fun to see everyone get into character and solve the mystery. I love planning things and helping plan this party is super awesome.

5. Christmas Music: My radio is set to only Christmas music and soon my iPod will be loaded with my best Christmas playlists.

4. Christmas Movies: I save these movies for only Christmas time. One of my favorite movies, Love Actually, only comes out at Christmas time and I am so excited to watch it! My collection also consists of: Elf, It's A Wonderful Life, Christmas Vacation, The Holiday, Rudolf, The Grinch, A Charlie Brown Christmas. I also go slightly overboard and watch the Christmas episodes of all the shows I have on DVD.

3. The End of the Semester: Yep, the end of my last full semester of classes - yes! There's lots to do these last 3 weeks, but with my trusty calendar full of assignments, I will make it through! And then there will be much rejoicing.

2. My Birthday: My birthday is on the 21st and who doesn't love a day that's all about them? I know I do. I also enjoy waiting all year to put together one grand wish list (for b-day and Christmas). And kudos to my fam for NEVER combining my birthday celebration with Christmas.

1. Christmas Itself: What a wonderful holiday! While I love the commercial Christmas (movies, music, presents, etc.) I also need to remember the whole reason we do all those things. Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus, our Savior. Without Him, not only would Christmas not exist, but neither would a whole bunch of other stuff.

I Really Love My...Fall Boots and Bag

I meant this to be kind of a regular thing where I write about certain items of clothing or accessories that I really like so this is a double whamy. I really like these boots and this bag. The boots were actually on my sister's b-day list and I liked them so much that I ordered them for myself and loved them. Before yesterday, I had only worn them with jeans but they worked well with tights and a skirt, too - score! I really like finding new ways to wear stuff like that because it makes it even more versatile. Also, this bag is amazing. It was a Christmas gift from my sister last year and I use it all the time. It is the perfect work bag because it can hold my notebook, DVDs, a novel-sized book, and my sandwich. It's also not so big that it's hard to find stuff. AND...it's made out of juice pouches which makes it super unique. Also, I cannot go anywhere in public without someone commenting on this bag - no joke. People want to know if I made it (yeah right), where I got it (from my sister via rebagz.com), and they all say it's super cute (I agree). Once a lady in line behind me at the Gap was touching it (awkward). She even wrote down the website so she could get one herself. I'm glad Liza has made me quite the trend-setter. So, thanks to my sister, I found amazing boots and have a head-turning bag.

Guns a Blazin'

This past weekend I went home with my roommate Lindsay (and our roomie Sarah came, too) to Southern Illinois. A couple weeks ago, we somehow got on the topic of shooting guns (which Sarah and I had never done) and Lindsay said her dad could take us. And he surely did. Mr. Breiling had a plethora of slugs/shells, 3 different guns, a whole box of clay pigeons, and some water jugs for targets all for our shooting pleasure.

First up was the clay pigeons with the 12- and 20-gague shotguns. This was hard. I shot a whole box of shells before I finally hit one. And guns are heavy. My arms were getting quite tired and I think Mr. Breiling was getting tired of throwing those things up. He was even cracking jokes about my aim "Jenna, why don't you shoot and I'll throw it into the path." You can tell he had a good time. Sarah and Lindsay did way better than I did with the shotguns and clay pigeons.

Lindsay on the left and me on the right taking down those pigeons.

Next was shooting the water jugs with the rifle (a Romanian SKS, I believe). This one held 10 slugs at a time so we each got 10 shots in a row. There were 5 water jugs total; 4 were in a line about 100 yards away and the 5th was out way past those. After Lindsay and Sarah shot their rounds and came up empty, I stepped up. Mr. Breiling told me my first shot was a little low so I re-aligned and bam - one water jug down and 4 to go! I think everyone was amazed that I was the first to hit one after the previous targets. Using up the rest of my slugs, I shot 2 more jugs including the one way far away. I was quite proud of myself and secretly very happy that I did well at something. It's also really cool to watch the water jugs explode and spray water everywhere when you shoot them. Lindsay and Sarah each got one of the other jugs.

The rifle set-up (we used the truck to help keep steady and we didn't use a scope) and here you can see how small the clay pigeons really are.


Lindsay and I with the rifle and the jugs that mostly I demolished.

We gathered up a lot of the clay pigeons we missed and shot some as targets on the hill (I knocked one over but didn't hit it and that's the closest anyone got) and then Mr. Breiling threw the rest up for Sarah and Lindsay. I wanted to end on a good note so I opted not to get frustrated and didn't do anymore pigeons.

And lastly, guns have a kickback. I was most scared of this and that I would fall down from it. But, I took it like a woman and let that gun knock me around (but not down on the ground). The picture below is like my badge of honor from an afternoon of shootin' guns. (I know it's supposed to hit more on my shoulder and I have a small bruise there but I think it kept rubbing on my arm where the bruise is). My other arm and shoulder is also sore. Shootin' guns is hard work!

Triple Threat

I am super blessed to have two awesome people in my life who are not only my roommates but my friends, too. Sarah, Lindsay, and I have gotten really close this year. During the week, we can often be found in the basement doing homework. Playing Settler's of Catan and train game are some of our favorite activities. I'm also blessed because these girls like to cook. I don't think I can ever go hungry as long as they are at 312. Each of us cooks about once a week which means tons of good food and not having to cook that often. Our leftovers are communal and that is wonderful. In addition to having friends that are always around, like cooking, and love playing games, Sarah and Lindsay are very encouraging and are strong Christians. Having that kind of support around 24/7 is just awesome and I am so grateful to God for providing me with such great friends. So here's to Sarah and Lindsay - cheers!