FRIDAY FIVE - January 19th

Some of my favorite things this week:

1) Headspace - I have been using this app every day to meditate and it has changed how I feel when I begin my day.

2) Frixion Clicker Erasable Pens. My stage manager, Jessie, introduced me to these last year. They aren't your old school erasable pens that leave residue and don't fully erase. They are MAGICAL. They ACTUALLY ERASE! and write on smooth and it is so delightful. And did I mention they come in multiple colors? Well, they do. So check those out.

3) My Bullet Journal. I was skeptical of the hype and after some intense research, I decided to try it out. And now, I feel naked without it. It holds everything I need in it - lesson plans, to-do lists, calendars, scripture journal, etc.

4) Jukebox the Ghost's song "Hollywood." Played on repeat. Over and over. Do it. You won't regret it.

5) Alberto's Churros and mini-burritos hit the spot last night. Seriously. Like Disneyland Churro material.

FRIDAY FIVE - January 12

There are so many things, large and small, new and old, quirky and ordinary, that contribute to my happiness in a variety of ways each week. I want to feature five of these discoveries every Friday. And for the foreseeable future I declare that this segment of my blog will be called THE FRIDAY FIVE. Here are some things that brought me joy this week:

1) A newly vacuumed room. I don’t want to publicly admit the last time I vacuumed my room, so let’s just say it had been a while. But man, the rush of a clean for really did it for me this week. 

2) My mom got me slippers for a Christmas and I have been treating them as normal shoes. It's an unhealthy obsession.

3) Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1. Go listen. Watch a youtube clip here.

4) The Tim Ferris Show - my new favorite podcast. Check out his website here.

5) Face Moisturizer and Toner - It turns out all of those beauty people telling me these were important for my skin weren’t lying. I finally started using both and my face feels like a baby’s butt. 

TWO THOUSAND SEVENTEEN: A Year in Review

One of my goals for 2018 is to up my blogging game. So, if I don't do a recap of 2017, am I even a blogger? I would propose that I am not. Thus, I proceed with my year in review.

I began 2017 on the wings of an incredible revelation: I didn't want to pursue a full-time career in performance. This freed me up to do all sorts of crazy things like audition and sing without fear as well as make some surprising things happen in my life.

Travel

I began the year off with some awesome trips to North Carolina and Cincinnati (with some quality time in Columbus to visit family) and even a spontaneous trip home for spring break. I spent my summer in Indianola, Iowa working with Des Moines Metro Opera and finding my love for singing again and was reminded that I'm actually quite good at what I do. I finished off the year with a spontaneous visit to Houston for my friend's baptism, an audition trip to Cincinnati/Columbus and got some brief family time squished in there again as well as a fabulous trip to Disneyland with some of my best friends. 

Surprises

- Became an honorary member of the PTA by volunteering as part of the audition panel for an elementary school musical. #politics

- Received offers from a few excellent programs to continue my education, but decided to move home and begin a year of exploration to truly find myself. Just kidding. But only kind of. Exploring in order to discover what I truly wanted to do was important, and I didn't want any scholastic program to tell me what I wanted to do. I spent enough years doing that.

- I learned to bake bread. #wifeme
- I graduated with a freaking MASTERS DEGREE in music.You may now call me, Master Jenny.

- Died my hair real dark #nevergoingback

- Moved Home, back with my parents, in their house, like a true, grown, adult woman. #winning

- Got a gig working as an Adjunct Professor at BYU and discovered (thankfully) that I actually really enjoy teaching. Like a lot more than I thought. So, that's nice.

- In the spirit of embracing my new courage, I've been dating more. So that's scary and surprising. And hard.

- I started a Song Collective (saltcitysong.com) and have loved developing a vision and producing concerts.

- I fell in love with shopping of the online and in person variety. It has become a problem and I am shopping time-out until February and clothing-shopping time-out at least until March.

- The car my parents have been graciously loaning me for years exploded. So, I decided it was time to grow up and buy my own. So I am now a car owner. Which has to be adulting level 32, at least.


As I think back to my big decision making moments, I can feel the fear and anticipation. But, I don't think I've ever been more content. Life is still hard, and there are still a lot of decisions to be made. But I can't help but feel content as I drive by Mount Olympus on Wasatch Boulevard, or go on dates with my nieces and nephews and take the occasional lunch with my brothers, all the while, taking time to explore the things I love and figuring out how I want to live my life slash make money. Life is good. And scary. And I wouldn't have it any other way.