a pretty cool fam.

now that finals are over and knowing that i never have to take american heritage every again (my hear is singing) i can enjoy the break & holiday. so far it's better so so great. really. full of work, family, and friends. lovely. however before the break really started us henderson's thought we needed a big bang to start out the month, and what better way to do so then to go to a raider game?! my dad grew up in santa rosa and the raiders practice field was just right across the street. when he was young he would go with his dad and so we decided to go to one ourselves. it. was. awesome. so so fun. we first went to san fran and couldn't ask for a better day. clearer and warmer then ever. we went to Boudin, an amazing sourdough sandwich and soup place and then of course to see the sea lions (side note: if katie was an animal she would be a sea lion. she loves them.) anyway. it was lots of fun. we missed the big brother kyle but were able to take the main squeeze sis-in-law liss lou with us. plane and car rides with catching up, random conversations, and basically peeing our pants laughing. we then went to the game and it was seriously like walking on to a pirate ship! someone would yell "RAIDERS!" and the whole line would echo it back. even my lovely mother was yelling it! hilarious. even though we lost it was still the best experience. at half time they recognized the hall of fame and my dad just about died. it was all the players that played while he was growing up. we had no idea this was going to happen but it was awesome. the night ended by going up to the oakland temple which looks over basically the whole bay area. lovely. amazing. then we went back to the hotel, crashed, woke up to a lovely view, and sadly flew back home. the weather was lovely. and the quality family time was priceless. now we are all sitting in a big cabin up in heber. i love love love my family and like i said before, the break has been a dream. here are some pictures of the san fran trip.

sorry for the picture overload. 

much love.

a happy birthday.

about a week and a half ago was my birthday. it just so happened to land on black friday of all days which just added to the fun. of course the day before was thanksgiving and having my birthday around that holiday has always been fun. surrounded by family and just being able to relax, talk, laugh and feel so so loved. needless to say it was a wonderful weekend.

so here is what i did.

at midnight i went to katie's show at the south towne mall. we actually got there around 11pm and got to go right in since she was with her band and i was a groupie. a little story for you: we were hungry so around 11:58 we went and got food and a pretzel place. as we were walking back we started to hear roars or people first quiet then louder and louder. it was like that scene in lord of the rings where they are in the cave and they hear the people coming at them (han aren't you proud? i made an LOTR reference!) but it was just like that. all of a sudden people were sprinting towards us. we grabbed each other right there and waited a few minutes trying not to be trampled! it was madness.

after getting home at 2 in the morning i had to be ready and at work by 5:30 am. then that madness started. thankful i got some of the best birthday singing I've ever experienced and i love the people i work with so it wasn't a bad way to spend most of the day. after work my family and i went to texas road house! one of my favorite places where i eat way too much food. it was so fun being with everyone and once again laughing and just talking. after eating we went home and watched the BYU women's game. it was so intense and even though they lost, it was still a great game. that night ended with one of the best presents ever. we all went to kyle (my brother's) show. he is in a band called desert noises. if you haven't heard of them go look them up!!! they are incredible. anyway we jammed to his music and sang along all night. his last song he said, "it's a very special day. my little sister is turning 19." everyone cheered even though they probably had no idea who i was. "and my brother just returned for his mission and he is going to come up and sing with us" now trevor used to be the drummer of this band and would harmonize with kyle. if you have heard them together you know it's gold! anyway. he got up there and they started playing oak tree. my favorite song! i was dying. it was the best surprise and end to my birthday!

the next day i went shopping. of course. and just my luck anthro was having the best sale! again, dying. that's really all i wanted for my birthday and my mom was all for it. after lots of shopping at city creek we went back and i headed to dinner with tiff and han. of course tiff was late.. :) but we had a lot of fun. laughing way too loud and telling stories while stuffing our faces. it was great. just missed our lex. after dinner we all headed back to my house for treats and games and of course ended the night with disco skating. one of my all time favorite things.

just wanted to say thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes and the love. it was a good one. here's to my last teenage year! yikes..

(and of course an iPhone photo dump)

 much love.

challenge day and a sunday thought.

this past week i was able to do an activity like this.

during high school i was on a committee called Aware to Care. We worked so hard to get this group to come my senior year and do it with the senior class but it costs a lot of money and we weren't able to get enough last year. so i got to come back and help as an adult supervisor. the experience was incredible. we spent the first hour or so playing and dancing with the students (there were about 100 of all different "groups" at school and a few teachers and then a few volunteers) after that we sat all together and the boy and girl in charge shared a little bit about their lives and talked about how we, as genders, are supposed to fit a certain role and we are all told to man up, don't cry, get over, it's not that big of a deal, act like a lady, be a man and all of these other things. then we talked about how we all have a iceberg. everyone sees 10 percent of us and thats our image and what we allow them to know. but what about the other 90? well we all got into groups of about 5 or 6 of teachers, students, and adult volunteers. we went around and said "if you really knew me..." and we were supposed to show 100 percent of the iceberg. it was amazing.  the people you thought had a perfect life were going through so many things and everyone was sharing who they REALLY were. then we did an activity called cross the line. they would ask a question (like the ones above in the video) and there was not a dry eye. everyone was hugging each other and comforting tears. whether you knew the person or not. it was awesome and i learned a lot. i really wish we could have gotten them to come last year but thats ok. but it has made me think about a lot of things this week. things like these..

we've all heard that saying that "beautiful things don't last" and i actually believe that. because it says things. I take that as in the items of life. think about it. how many times have you bought a new shirt that you thought was beautiful? you probably wore it a lot for a while but after some time it falls into the back of your closet. how many times have been obsessed with a certain song and after some time you get sick of it? how many girls or boys do you know that are beautiful but when you get to know them they don't really have a personality? what about all those movie stars? and how we all look up to them so much we almost have them consume our lives? are they going to last? it made me think of one of my favorite songs. take a listen.

So i was talking to my roommate about this (hannah) and we decided that beautiful things don't last but beautiful souls do. 

i love love this quote. we should count ourselves first! maybe we don't have the latest fashions, the best hair, the best skin, smile, teeth, blah blah blah but we were all create in gods image and that in itself is beautiful. so next time you think you aren't good enough or aren't beautiful think of this quote.

next on this tangent is beautiful love. a lot of people spend so much time at a young age looking for love or just someone to love them. but i feel like there are two kinds of beautiful love. the love that lasts and the one that doesn't. we see all over the media the famous couples that get married and get divorced a few weeks later and so much of that other crap all around us. sometimes its hard to think if the real kind still exists. well here is a little story for you. an apostle was traveling from country to country and beside him was his wife. they have been married for a long long time. as he introduced himself he spent very little time talking about who he was but instead gently squeezed his wife's hand, looked her in the eyes and then looked at the group he was being introduced to and said, "I'd like you to meet my queen" that is true love at it's finest. it's still out there but it will come at the right time and in the right place. here is another song. just because music expresses thing so well. 

challenge day effected me the most in the way i think about people when i see them. whether i know them or not i try not to have that tunnel vision that comes so natural to all humans. i've really tried to fix this at work. it's been very interesting. i've decided to try to give out more compliments to people on simple things. to try and smile when i pass people as a walk. and when i ask how they are doing really listen. i've learned that the only way to be happy is by doing two thing, caring and serving others, and depending on christ. 

that was something that was so hard for me at this challenge day. i wanted to hug each of those kids and whether they were religious or not i wanted them to remember they had a heavenly father who loved them and was there for them through everything. i've been thinking about what it means to find yourself because that seems to be what everyone is wanting to do now days and i know what the only way to do that is through christ. he is there for you always. 

what an amazing testimony. i'm so grateful for my knowledge that i have that i have a heavenly father that loves me. i'm so grateful for a family that is always there for me and that we can be together for forever. i'm grateful that i know i am never alone and that christ can help me through any trial i am having. and i know he is there for each one of you too. he lives. let me end with one last video. one that i think is the most powerful. if you're like me you may need to grab a tissue. The gospel of Jesus Christ is real. it accepts any willing and will help any that are needing. He is there and He wants to help you. You just have to let him.

may all of you have an amazing sunday. and maybe try to be a little better. 

much love.

101 things you may or may not know about me.

as i was reading a friend's blog recently she did a post with 101 things people may or may not know about her. i thought that is was pretty cool so i decided to try to come up with 101 things for myself. it's not as easy as i thought it would be. after you read my list go make one for yourself!

1. JanaLe is one word and yes the L is capitalized because... refer to number 2.
2. i was named after my two grandmas Janet and DonaLe (her L is capitalized too)
3. i don't have a middle name.
4. i was born in Idaho
5. i have two older brothers a younger sister and a younger brother.
6. i have broken my arm 4 times.
7. i used to be queen of rolling my eyes at people.
8. i really hoped my last sibling would be a girl. katie just wasn't cutting it ;) just kidding mija.
9. i love love love love to travel.
10. i have been to australia, jamaica, and probably 75 percent of the states.
11. i have an incredible amount of shoes. i can't let them go. they each tell a story.
12. i am a clogger and have been doing so for 12 years now.
13. i love my team. they are like my second family.
14. i have a serious obsession with one tree hill.
15. i love eggnog hot chocolate from starbucks.
16. if i could live in a store it would be anthropology.
17. my favorite color is red.
18. my favorite movie is time travelers wife or pearl harbor.
19. jodi picoult is my favorite author.
20. i went this whole last summer never doing my hair and it was awesome.
21. i like to take pictures and edit them to see what i can create.
22. i like to have my pictures taken.
23. i have very small hands.
24. usually i go in phases with music and right now it's country.
25. i love my family and we all get along really well.
26. i tell some pretty funny jokes. here is a little taste. did you hear what happened to the butcher when he backed into the grinder? he got a little behind in his work. ;)
27. i love steak.
28. i love fashion.
29. i love the people i work with.
30. i am a sucker for scotcharoos
31. i love the ellen show.
32. when i get mad i cry.
33. i hate feeling like a have disappointed someone.
34. i hate weeding.
35. i love vacuuming.
36. i hate when boys leave the toilet seat up. ah it just is the worst.
37. i'm either quiet or loud i don't think i have much of an in-between.
38. i'm supposed to wear glasses to read.
39. i love taco amigo.
40. i never really had a nic name until my senior year which is now jan.
41. i love scary movies but of course cover my eyes 80 percent of the time.
42. i love dogs.
43. i like to disco skate.
44. i'm really awful at remembering historic dates.
45. however i'm really good at remembering situations or conversations i have had with people and what i/they were wearing where we were etc.
46. i have a hard time with change.
47. my favorite part of the year is going up to my family ranch.
48. i love riding four wheelers.
49. i love when my family sings together.
50. i love chocolate licorice
51. recently i fall asleep at any chance i can get.
52. my senior year was my favorite year in school.
53. i wish i actually practiced the piano when i was little.
54. i love getting pedicures.
55. i hate the feeling of when an airplane lands.
56. i'm not good at reading if it's something i am being told to read.
57. i usually run late.
58. i love singing and dancing in my car.
59. i consider beating the (i had to go to clogging at this point and i have no idea what i was going to write, little bit concerned)
60. i love watching sappy lovey chic flicks.
61. daisies are my favorite flower.
62. i like being short.
63. i work hard to accomplish things.
64. i sound a lot like my mom.
65. it takes a lot for me to get tan.
66. i love learning about WWII
67. i love quotes.
68. i have a poem published in a book.
69. i stopped breathing when they tried to wake me up after getting my wisdom teeth out.
70. i LOVE apples and peanut butter.
71. i ask dumb questions before i think them through in my head.
72. i hate throwing up.
73. i have very sensitive skin.
74. i love to laugh.
75. i love to shop.
76. i am awful and trivia of any kind.
77. i have this thing with different pants which leads to me buying too many.
78. i love when it rains on thursdays.
80. i don't really know how to swim.
81. i have awful feet. not in how they look, just they have problems.
82. i love putting together new outfits.
83. i hate when people whisper.
84. i'm superstitious.
85. i wish i was more creative.
86. i associate music with people and memories.
87. i love william boots. (my brother and sister in laws dog)
88. i have blue eyes.
89. i for some reason have the hardest time putting on lip stick.
90. i love inside jokes with my sister.
91. i'm not very good at expressing my emotions.
92. i love "those" songs. the ones that make you feel infinite.
93. i love reading other peoples blogs and hearing their life story.
94. i love my friends.
95. i have to have things follow some what of a routine.
96. i work hard.
97. i love the gospel.
98. i tend to over think things.
99. i love being crazy with my best friends.
100. i love the relationship i have with my mom.
101. i enjoy the simple things in life.

phew! well there it is. all 101 things. thanks for reading! much love