PS - Today I am sooo excited I just don't even know what to do with myself! I am going to go live my dream-yay, yay, yay :)

Hi All,

Well today is the last day of orientation, and soon I will be flying to Dublin (leaving the country for the first time ever). I have to be honest in saying that I have had doubts and concerns regarding this whole trip. However, those thoughts consume approximately 3-5% of my feelings toward this decision; the remaining 95-97% feelings are that this is what I am supposed to be doing for now-yay!  At the end of the day, I am sooo much happier being here than not. I feel honored and privileged to have an opportunity such as this. Below are pictures of our Commissioning Mass with Bishop Luke.

Love,
Jenna

New York!

Here are pictures from our trip to New York City:


SLMs in the van, on the way to New York City!

The Statue of Liberty

The Statue of Liberty and I






Luke and I had never been to New York before...

So it was necessary to document our EXCITEMENT!

The group at Battery Park



The 9/11 Memorial (There are two of these fountains-
one in the location of each of the Twin Towers)




View off of the Brooklyn Bridge





Love Locks on the Brooklyn Bridge



Wall Street Stock Exchange



Central Park




Roller Skaters in Central Park



The group in Central Park



Horse Carriage

Central Park view



Taxis

Empire State Building



St. Patrick's Cathedral



Times Square



I never knew the ball was there ALL year!



Grand Central Station



The Star Dust Diner



The servers are a bunch of aspiring Broadway stars who
perform songs in the middle of the restaurant

Hi All,

Thank you for visiting my blog, it really means a lot to me :) This chapter of my life began in wonderful Colorado, with a hopeful goodbye to all of my family, friends, and co-workers.  I have decided to go on a mission trip to Ethiopia for a year.  I will be working with the Salesians, a Catholic Order, and most likely teaching English.

Currently, I am in New York for a three-week orientation.  This is my first ever time being in New York, so it is very exciting!  There are 18 of us at orientation, from all over the country (California, Washington State, Ohio, Wisconsin, Iowa, Pennsylvania, New Jersey).  I am the only one from Colorado, though :)  Most of our time has been spent volunteering at a soup kitchen, getting to know each other, and attending talks/workshops about safety, culture shock, conflict resolution, etc.  Within the next couple of months, we will all travel out to our assigned locations (Ethiopia, South Sudan, Bolivia, Cambodia) to be there for the next year.  Most of us will be helping at schools and orphanages.  Also, while in New York, we spent a day in the city (New York City, that is!) and boy was it a blast!  I think I saw nearly everything there is to see in New York in one-day of walking: Statue of Liberty on the free ferry, Battery Park, Native American Museum, Bronze Bull, Wall Street, Brooklyn Bridge, Central Park, Times Square, Empire State Building, taxis, rode Subway, Grand Central Station.  What a day - yay :)

Upon my completion of orientation (Aug 18), I will be travelling to Dublin, Ireland.  I will meet up with friends there and travel Europe with them for approximately two weeks.  We plan to visit Dublin, Berlin, Munich, Vienna, Rome, and Venice.  After that (Sept 1), I will travel to Ethiopia to begin my work as a Salesian Lay Missioner (SLM).

Even though I will miss you all very much, I feel this is where I’m being called at this time.  I will try to post pictures and updates when I can :)

Lots of love,
Jenna



MY FAMILY!

My sweet shoes that I got for the trip                         The back of our SLM shirts

Paula and I (She is my site partner = the other SLM going to my same site in Ethiopia)