Class of 2012

Okay, so here is an excessive amount of pictures of my class and grad night. =) 

Photo credits go to Sarah Jantzi, who is still the world's awesomest photographer!

I think we pull off the white shirt look rather well. lol. 

The ever-popular chicken pose, invented and perfected by greg. =) 

You guys looked so beautiful in your dresses! =)

What??? 12 years of school for nothing????

A quote for you all: "There is no charge for awesomeness. Or attractiveness." I thought it was very fitting for you all. =) 

Full skirts.... make you want to spin in circles. =) 

Friends that I did not graduate with, but love very much anyways. =) 

The past two years with you guys have been completely awesome, and I can't really imagine life without seeing you all on a regular basis! Thank you so much for all the fun times, and jokes, and support and encouragement, and memories, and things you taught me!! I am so thankful for each of you, and I hope that we will see eachother around! =)

Everything

So you know how sometimes a certain verse just becomes so familiar to you that it becomes almost meaningless? Well, several weeks ago, a thought kind of began developing, but then I forgot about it until something in church this morning got my thought process going again and this afternoon I pursued the thought a bit farther, and decided that it was good enough to be shared. =)
The verse that goes with this thought is Isaiah 9:6. (Merry Christmas, everybody! lol.)
"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."
This verse is such an amazing description of God. It shows that God truly does provide for us in every single area. He is all we need, because He is absolutely everything.
So several weeks ago, when every single aspect of my life just seemed exceptionally chaotic and unmanageable, the phrase "Prince of Peace" came to my mind. And all of a sudden, I looked at everything that I was freaking out about (I freak out a lot, in case you hadn't picked up on that yet), and felt guilty, because I say that I serve the Prince of Peace, and yet my life and heart were far from peaceful. In fact, I felt very... restless. And some types of restlessness are good (think Audrey Assad's song "Restless"), but what I was demonstrating in my life was definitely something negative. I was trying to be self-sufficient, and not one single aspect of my life showed that I believe that God has His hand over me and that I can rest underneath the protection of that hand. But God (Jesus) is the Prince of Peace. It's like He is a king (which He is) and there is a land called Peace, and that is where I am supposed to take up permanent residence. (And I shall have an awesome little cottage with one of those cool thatched roofs and a cool stone fence and a very green lawn... hey, this sounds like Ireland! =)). I realize that that is a lame analogy... but I'm pretty sure that means that as one of His followers, I should be doing way more trusting and a lot less freaking out.
Next we are going to talk about how He (Jesus/God- it's really hard to know exactly who I should be referring to... especially since they are technically the same...) is the Wonderful Counselor. What do counselors do? They listen. They listen and they address problems and they want the best for their patients. Their goal is to fix problems. However, before they can do that, the patient has to choose to come to them. (Unless, of course, the patient is declared clinically insane or something, and forced to attend counselling sessions. But I may have watched a few too many episodes of Private Practice.) The patient has to come to them and admit that they have a problem and that they cannot fix it on their own. It means that the patient must be completely honest, and trust that the counselor will not judge them or mock them or give up on them. Sometimes the patient has trouble admitting admitting the problem, whether it is because of shame or denial or the pain that they know will come from addressing the issue that they have buried deep inside them. God is the Wonderful Counselor. Sometimes He has to dig deep down into people's hearts to uncover the things that they have hidden for so long. And sometimes it hurts and is humiliating. But God is not the type to give up on or turn away from the "patients" who come to Him wanting to be healed. He listens and then renews. The price of all this? Complete and total surrender to Him. Costly, in our eyes... but completely worth it. No issue is too big for Him to deal with.
Because He is the Mighty God. All-powerful and all-knowing. In the Old Testament, He was the God who called His people to fight for Him and gave them the strength to conquer armies that seemed much bigger and stronger than theirs. In the New Testament, He called His people to passionately spread the Truth, and to defend what they knew to be true, even when it meant being looked down and physically hurt. Today, He expects the same thing from us. He is the God who separated the water in the Red Sea and opened the eyes of a blind man. He is the God who calmed stormy seas and the God who endured incredible pain on the cross. We are to fight for the truth and against things that oppose the truth. We can trust Him to protect us, because, well, He is the strongest.
Now, the whole "Mighty God" thing is a little bit intimidating, right?? I mean, that gives a mental image of God sitting there on his throne with fury in His eyes and a lightning bolt in His hand. Which is what makes the next thing so great! God is also the Everlasting Father! This tells us that God has a very gentle side. I mean, up until this point, God has been portrayed as a very powerful, wise being. But when you think about it, neither the "Wonderful Counselor" or the "Mighty God" or "Prince of Peace" image makes it seem as though God is someone we can approach and build a personal relationship with. Yes, you discuss problems with a counselor, but you do not usually develop a personal relationship with them. (Except that sometimes, that happens. Yeah... too much Private Practice). "Mighty God" doesn't sound very approachable. "Prince of Peace" doesn't either. But Everlasting Father???? This shows that God loves His children. That He wants them to come to Him when life just gets too hard to handle on their own. I mean, I go to my dad with all kinds of problems. Like "Dad, can you come kill this big bug?" and "Dad, I need some batteries" and "Dad, I am locked in my bedroom and cannot get out" and "Dad, I have no idea how to get to Gladys Cressman's house". So yeah... a dad is an awesome mixture of someone who should be completely gentle and approachable and yet strong and authoritative enough to gain the respect of his children. That is what God is to us. He listens to us, corrects us when we need some straightening out, and protects us when we just need to rest and renew our strength. (oooh...Psalm 28:7- "The Lord is my strength and my shield." Isn't that awesome??? God is our strength... He gives us the strength to fight when we need to, but He is also our shield. He protects us when we just can't go on any more. I love love love this thought. Because using strength (fighting) and hiding behind a shield (resting, protecting, defending) seem like complete opposites. And yet God recognizes that there is a time for each.) Also, did you all take note of the word "everlasting"?? It means that God will go on forever. =) He will never die. He will never abandon His family. He will never shirk His duties as a Father. He is permanent and stable.
So this is my conclusion....I believe in a God who is omniscient and omnipotent and caring enough to deal with the problems and messes that I get myself into and strong enough to carry me and help me fight and gentle enough for me to run to for protection and guidance when I'm exhausted and powerful enough to evidently cover every area of my life with His peace, if I allow Him to do so.
I believe in a God who has thoughtfully and intentionally made sure that every single one of my needs can be met only by Him.
And once I recognize that, I realize that there is no need for me to keep frantically racing around. I can rest in the security of knowing that He is near and that He is everything. 

(Okay, I just realized that this entire post makes it sound as though I believe that God only exists to serve me. I would like everyone to know that I am fully aware that it is the other way around. =)) 

Things I am Incredibly Thankful For

• Writers Craft tests that are not too hard, and most importantly- OVER. 
• I am also thankful for GED tests of the same variety. 
• Friends that I can get completely caught up in conversation with. So caught up, in fact, that neither of us notices when the light turns green. You know who you are. Also, you have pretty blue eyes and a great laugh. =) 
• Math that is almost done. 
• High school that is almost done. lol. 
• A pay cheque from Marian's sitting on my dresser. 
• Three jobs this summer. 
• My family. 
• My laptop. 
• The knowledge that I have gained in the past year, the lessons I have learned, and the areas that I have improved in. For example.... last night, as I was furiously putting together a co-op portfolio, I was sorting through stacks and stacks of old papers from school, desperately searching for something worthy to be put in a portfolio. And I found my one year adventure novel. And I sat there on my bedroom floor, in the middle of a floor covered in papers, reading the words that I wrote over a year ago. I reached a certain point in the story and I literally cringed. Because I knew what was coming. Yes, I did. This one ridiculous conversation that I wrote... I read it and I was like "Jasmine, what in the world were you thinking?? Huh??". A word of advice.... conversations about bananas? Do not belong in adventure novels. Seriously. I can no longer criticize Adam Young for the lyrics to "Fireflies". I am like the Owl City of novelists. 
• The not-so-gentle reminder that I need God. 
• Having trouble feeling grateful for this... but I know that I needed it. 
• Life. Lives that have been lived well.
• The knowledge that I will soon have time for the things that I have been waiting to do. Liking cleaning my room. lol. It's pretty bad. And sewing new clothes. And writing. Oh, and sleeping. And a blog post about the wonderful month of May. =) I really have been waiting to do that. I am excited. =) Also, I am looking forward to doing blog posts that are a bit more structured (ahem- no bullets), less random, and have actually been thought through before I started writing them. 
• Old prayer journals full of prayers that God has heard and answered and written-out verses from the Bible that still hold incredible meaning for me. I was going through my old journals the other day, because a certain yearbook staff asked for my favourite verse. =) And I found so many of my old favourite Bible verses that I had forgotten about! They are so amazing, and they are not even from Jeremiah. lol. Anyways, Psalm 139 is the passage I went with... I just had to condense it. lol. But it truly is perfect for this time of my life. 
• Random Phrases from Psalm 139: "Oh Lord, You have searched me and You know me. You hem me in- behind and before; You have laid Your hand upon me. Where can I go from Your spirit? If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there Your hand will guide me, Your right hand will hold me fast. All the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be." 

Five Sad Things

It feels a little bit strange to be writing about sad things, when I do not feel particularly sad.
But there are certain things about my life that are very, very sad right now.
So I thought I would share them. =)
And they're sad, but not depressing. It's just kind of this feeling of knowing that life is changing, and it's going to keep changing, and understanding that that's the way it's supposed to be, and yet kind of wishing that things didn't have to change.
Anyways... sad things (also known as evidence that nothing stays the same forever):

• Today I said goodbye to my cousin Jason. I don't know if I've ever hugged someone goodbye before and known that I wasn't going to see them for a long, long, long time. I mean, I had thought about Jason leaving before, but it was just sadder in the actual moment than in my head. Jason, you have played a huge role in our group of cousins, and it will not be the same without you!! 
• I realized that I only have 2.5 weeks of co-oping left to do. It feels like I just started! It feels like I have learned so much, but still have so much to learn! I don't think I'm ready to leave. Maybe I could just co-op for the rest of my life? No, I don't want to do that. But yeah... it really has been a learning experience.  I think I have become a better writer, and also learned a lot of things about people and holding conversations and asking questions and recording answers and mac computers. So yeah... I'll be sad when it's over, but I'm so grateful for the experience! 
• The school year is wrapping up....slowly but surely. All I have left to do is math. And a pig and cow eye dissection. lol. But this is my last year at Countryside with this particular group of friends. I cannot believe that 12 years of my life could just go by so quickly. What if the next 12 years go by just as quickly????? what if I am thirty before I know it?????? and what exactly is all going to happen in the next 12 years anyways??? I HAVE NO CLUE!!!!!!!!!!! it's so exciting! =) But I also feel a bit sad that this part of my life will be over, cause it was a pretty good part of life. 
• Math. Math is a sad thing. One minute, you're like "whoa. I understand this! It makes SO MUCH SENSE!!" and then the next minute, you see the words "Graphing Rational Functions" and BAM- it no longer makes sense. Maybe it is not math that is sad. Maybe it is my brain that is sad. 
• McDonalds no longer makes McMinis. I do not know what idiot decided to take McMinis off the menu, but it was not a wise decision. McMinis were... well, perfect. In every single way. There was no flaw. The bread, the chicken, the sauce (the McDonalds in New Hamburg always put the perfect amount of sauce on...)... The really sad thing is that I still get cravings for them. But now I know that I will never eat another mcmini again. This world is a cruel, harsh place. 

And that's it. 

Those are my five sad things. 

Simple Thoughts I Have Had and Lessons I Have Learned In The Past Few Days

• Don't drink coke. I just drank coke, because I was very thirsty, and for some reason, Coke appealed to me. Even though I don't normally like it. So anyways, I drank some, and now my stomach is making strange noises. 
• Don't ever think that you are just going to take a short nap, and that you will wake up refreshed and with enough energy to do twice the amount of work that you could have done if you hadn't taken a nap. Because you will not wake up refreshed or with more energy. You will, in fact, feel even more tired than before, and wish that you had just pounded through the paper that is due tomorrow. 
• People from the Woolwich Observer are not mean, as you may have been previously led to believe. If you happen to run into one of their reporters, you should not panic and feel all intimidated, because that reporter will probably take the time to talk to you and end up being really nice. 
• Prioritize. Seriously. John 15: 1-4 "I am the true vine, and my father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the words I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me." Make time to "remain in God", because the time that you spend with Him will ALWAYS be more valuable than any other way that you could have spent that time, and you will not regret it.
• Something that one of my pastors said during communion last Sunday (it's also in the Bible =))... "He that has the Son has life, and he that has not the Son has not life." It sounds so simple. And yet it feels wrong to say that it actually is that simple because of the intricate plan that God orchestrated and everything that Jesus went through to make salvation possible. So it is completely simple and yet unthinkably complicated. The ultimate paradox. 
• I am insanely excited about this weekend. Do you know why??? (This is going to make me sound incredibly lame... oh well. I guess that it's time to show all of you the real me.=)) I have absolutely no plans!!!!!!!! none! except for mother's day on sunday. But seriously... friday night at home. I can work on school stuff. All day Saturday at home. I can work on more school stuff!!!!! 
• If I was a dog, I would want to be exactly like my dog, Blitz. except for the killing kittens part. Except for that one vicious streak, she is this completely gentle, laid-back dog. And sometimes she runs, but not for long. lol. and she has these insane brown eyes that make you just want to sit and pet her all day. And if you stop petting her, she will put her paw on your arm, and look at you, and you just have to pet her again. She's just so cute! This is coming from a person who doesn't like dogs. 
• The retired men in Woolwich Township are getting artsy. there is one that weaves, one that knits socks and mitts, and one that quilts. 
• Sleep should be optional. 
• Days should be longer. 
• When stressed, youtube is the place to go to. =) lol. "Are you okay?" "Are YOU okay?" lol. 
• the newest development on the ugly sweater: the sweater itself is not actually ugly. it just looks ugly on me. I am the problem here. I just wanted you all to know that. It is not the sweater's fault. 
• I must be stupid. because i am blogging about nothing, instead of finishing a fascinating paper on the Black Death. And the Pied Piper. That dude was creepy (and possibly completely fictional). But seriously... someone should make a movie about him. or write a book about him. Because a story about a guy who played music and led all of the children away from their town out of spite would just be kind of fascinating. Also, I would like to know what he did with the children after he lured them away from their homes. 
• I wish that I was already graduated. 

The Crazy Month of April

I cannot believe that April is over already!! It went by so insanely quickly! And it was awesomely busy! A lot of fun stuff happened this month! Unfortunately, I didn't take pictures of a lot of it... So bear with me as I talk. =) 

 Okay, so as you can see, this first picture is a collage of my wonderful cousins! We had an amazing day together! So many memories were made!! Guys, it will take me and Lisa a lifetime to forget the sight of the four of you hopping the Bruce Trail. And I'm positive that none of us will ever forget Tracy! Plus, our picnic was pretty special. The moment that Kenton realized that he had set his drink right in the jar of salsa was special in its own way. =) And Lisa,  you and I have a lot of things that we need to do together in the future. =) It was a great day, and I'm so glad that we got to spend it together! Jason, we're gonna miss you so much! Cousins times just won't be the same without you!

These two pictures are of my class. We had a great afternoon taking grad photos with sarah jantzi (who is the world's best, funnest photographer!). It was so much fun to laugh with you guys and just hang out! I'm so excited about graduating with you all!!! I mean, I am excited to graduate, period. But it is even more special because I get to do it with some of my best friends. I love how we can laugh and joke together. And I will never forget the moment when the following conversation happened:
Me: "I wanna stay up all night and jump around..." (I sang that. because it's a song. and it had been stuck in my head all day. So i sang it. it had to come out.)
Josh: Hey, Jas, who sings that song? (he sounded super-interested. like he actually wanted to know.)
Me: One Direction!
Josh: Keep it that way.
I decided not to take it personally. =)
It was just a generally awesome afternoon. =) I love how we all tease eachother! And on that note... keep up the cute smiling, Josh. =)
And Greg, you do an excellent chicken imitation. I have never seen anyone do it better. =)
I can't wait to graduate with you all!

This is my desk at the Independent!! Isn't it great??? =)

But on a more serious note.... I am loving co-oping. I really am. Journalism is just kind of awesome. Do you know what journalism is??? It's information!!!!! Neat, logical, organized information! There is something comforting about the simplicity of it. You're not required to be funny or witty or sarcastic. I can go home and work on my book or writer's craft and be as creative as I want to, and I really do love that too. But there's something about simply presenting information clearly and logically and figuring out the best way to present it that I really enjoy. You just have to know what you're talking about! That's all that is required of you! And if you don't know anything about your topic (which you often don't), you find someone qualified and learn from them. When you are a reporter, you get to ask as many questions as you want to, and it's okay. It's doesn't mean that you are nosy or stupid. It's what is expected of you! Journalism is the perfect mix of interacting with others and working on your own. There is a certain kind of power that comes with being a journalism. You have the power to talk to anyone that you need to. You have the power to guide conversation. You have the power to tell the truth. In my case, I tell the truth about Woolwich's tree situation, the Kiwanis Lobsterfest, and the Easter Bunny Express. And maybe someday I will have the opportunity to expose the truth about more important things. I think that might be what I love the most about journalism so far. The fact that the entire objective of it is to spread the truth. And that doesn't always happen, unfortunately. But ideally, every journalist would approach each assignment that they are given with the purpose of sharing the truth. I think that the reason that I like this idea of uncovering the truth so much is because I know that God is truth itself, and what better way for me to glorify Him than by sharing truth with others? So yeah... enjoying the Independent. Could almost see myself doing this as a career. The only problem is that I don't know if I'm good at it. lol. but i not only like the Independent because i get to write, but also because of the people there. They're so funny! I am just in complete awe of their wittiness. And I like that I get called "Miss Jasmine" by some of them and "Co-op student" by others. And today, I laughed so hard. Because they're renovating the building right now, and they were talking about how they should have something hanging at the front of the building that kind of symbolizes Elmira. And Chris was like, "We should have something Mennonite hanging up." And then his eyes got really big, and he was like "Hey!!!!!!!!!!! we should hang Jasmine up there!" and I was like "oh, thanks, that makes me feel very special." and he was like "don't worry. We'll send you somewhere nice to be stuffed first." and i was like "You treat me so well. Thank you." anyways... enough about the Independent. =)

okay, that is the end of the pictures. here we go with the words. =) 

Well, I played in a volleyball tournament. And it was tons of fun, even though I was in the process of getting a really bad cold and just kind of felt fuzzy and really tired all day. But yeah, it was fun volleyball! Plus, my team won the tournament. It was my first time ever winning a tournament with guys and girls in it. =) It felt nice... i think i'll do it again sometime. Perhaps on May 19? =) 

And because we won the tournament, I got a gift card. And so I went to the mall and bought a pretty shirt. But then I did something so stupid. I bought an ugly sweater. It is UGLY. i cannot believe that i bought it. it was such a mistake. i am never ever going to wear it. and i can't return it, because it was a final sale. seriously... sometimes... i am stupid. 

Also, I went to Toronto for a weekend. It was a good weekend! I learned a lot... had fun with my class... heard mysterious thumping going on late at night. ;) Oh yeah.. korean food is bad. That is a lesson that will stick with me for a long time. Also, I played "List Everything You Know About The Germans" for the first time in my life. Best game ever. =)  

And I played baseball for the first time this year! it didn't go too badly! I didn't strike out at all. And i somehow managed to never hit the ball straight to the short stop, which is definitely a problem that I have. And it was awesome, because the whole time I was outfield, not one single ball came to me!!!!!!!!! not one!!!!!!

There is a new  insult in the Shantz household! Thanks to Wendy. lol. So she was kinda grumpy the other night, and she had the fridge door open, and was taking a really long time deciding what she wanted to eat. And so I was like, "Wendy, make up your mind and shut the fridge door!" And Wendy turns around and gives me this intense glare and says "You're the fridge." it cracked us all up. it is my new favourite insult. =) 

okay.. i need to go work now. 

hopefully by the end of may, i will be all done my work. =) 

The Results Are In!

Today was a funny day.
I laughed a lot.
I cracked myself up many, many times.
And I was just sitting here thinking about life in general, when i started remembering funny stuff that happened today, and it made me laugh all over again. So I was sitting here on my bed laughing all by myself, when Renee stopped by my room.
Lately Renee has been full of smart remarks, and they always make me laugh so hard, because clearly, she is developing a sense of humor, and so our relationship is at this strange place where we can laugh like crazy together, but also get insanely annoyed with each other.
Anyways, this is the way our conversation went:

Jasmine: Hahahahahahahahahaha! (that's me laughing)
Renee: Jasmine, can I tell you something?
Jasmine: Is it something deeeeeeeeeeeeply personal or veeeeeeeeeery important? (yup, there were that many e's.)
Renee: No.
Jasmine: Then I'm not interested.
Renee: Oh. Well, I just wanted to let you know that the results from your test came in.
Jasmine: The results? Wait, what test?
Renee: You are officially crazy. I'm sorry, but we're going to have to lock you up now.

Yup. That was it. Our great sibling moment of the day.
I just thought I would share with anyone who happened to be interested.
Also, I am now certifiably crazy, according to "the test". Haha, I think I know some other people who should maybe consider taking the test too. =)
Kenton also made me laugh really hard very recently.
I went into the living room and he was sitting there on the couch, looking at flyers and making funny noises.

Kenton: Blub blub blub. (those are the noises that he was making)
Jasmine: Um, Kenton? What are you doing?
Kenton: I'm just sitting here making motorcycle noises.
Jasmine: Motorcycle noises?
Kenton: Wanna join me?
Kenton and Jasmine in unison: Blub blub blub.

I still don't know how those are motorcycle noises, but it was just so incredibly random and funny that it makes me laugh every time I think about it.
Have a funny evening, everyone!