New Update!

Today is an excellent, excellent, excellent day in my life. Why? Because my roommate Haley and I got a puppy at the pound yesterday and today we got to bring her home. She is some kind of terrier and maybe wiener dog mix thing. Basically, she's a mutt, but that doesn't mean she isn't cute! We named her Bellatrix from Harry Potter, but we call her Bella for short. I am so super excited about Bella. I'm pretty sure its the beginning of a very beautiful friendship!

Here are a few pictures to get you started:







Bella had to get her woman parts removed today, so she isn't feeling so lively. Soon I will post more!

Just to Clarify

I know by now everyone has noticed my status on facebook. I understand curiosity, and I don't blame you for asking, but in order to keep from having to answer the same question to a million different people, I thought I would clarify on here.

Jaron and I have broken up because Jaron has been cheating me. I feel that the rest of the details are between Jaron and I.

I ask that you pray for Jaron. He has a lot of issues that he needs help with that need to be dealt with. I ask that you pray for God to provide him with love, comfort, and most importantly, healing. I also ask that you pray for God to give Jaron the strength that he needs to take the first step to getting help. I will be praying for this constantly.

I also ask that you pray for me. Pray that God will help me overcome the hurt and pain that comes from being betrayed by someone I love and care about so deeply. Pray that God would allow me to trust people I am in future relationships with, because I know that that will be an issue for me now. This is going to be a rough few weeks for me, and I ask that you pray that God gives me love, comfort, and healing.

Thanks ahead of time for you love and support,
Jenna

Taxes

Today I begin the new section of my blog. I did a little research on where the candidates stand on taxes. All of my information is from CNN or Washington Post.

McCain:
Will make the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts permanent.
Would double the exemption for dependents

The net result: compared with their tax bill today, taxpayers on average would see their tax bill cut by nearly $1,200. That means their after-tax income would rise by 2%.

Those in the lowest income groups would only see their after-tax income rise by less than 1% (or between $19 and $319). By contrast, the highest-income households - those with incomes of at least $603,000 - would see a boost in after-tax income of 3.4%, or more than $40,000.

Obama

Would keep the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts in place for everyone except those making more than roughly $250,000

Obama would also introduce new tax breaks for lower and middle-income groups. Fro example, expanding the earned income tax credit, giving those making less than $150,000 a $500 tax credit per person on the first $8,100 in income, giving those making under $75,000 a 50% federal match on the first $1,000 of savings, and exempting seniors making less than $50,000 from having to pay income tax.

The net result: compared with their tax bill today, taxpayers on average would see their tax bill cut by nearly $160 under Obama's plan. That means their after-tax income would rise by 0.3%.

Those in the lowest-income groups would enjoy the biggest after-tax income rise as a percentage of income - between 2.4% and 5.5% (worth between $567 and $1,042). By contrast, the highest-income households - those with at least $603,000 in income - would see a dramatic decline in their after-tax income - a drop of 8.7%, or $116,000.

Check out this chart I found:


Enjoying the political process,
Jenna

Politics

This weekend, I have done absolutely nothing, and it has been wonderful.

This weekend, I also tried to dry my hair. It looks almost exactly the same. Disappointing.

This weekend, I watched the first season of Entourage and I really liked it. I tried to rent season 2 from Blockbuster, but the only copy was missing the first disk. Also disappointing.

The real point of this post is the upcoming Presidential election. Here are my two biggest complaints:

1. The media (and the candidates) spend a lot more time talking about pointless crap like who said what or who's wife wore what than they do about the issues. This is annoying.

2. The election has become somewhat of a popularity contest. Here's the deal, if you have truly researched the issues, and you agree with Obama or McCain, then by all means, vote for them. I support your decision 100%. However, I have noticed a recent trend at Texas State and elsewhere. This trend involves people voting for Obama when they have absolutely no idea where he stands on issues or what he has planned for our country. Many Texas State kids want to vote for Obama simply because its "cool" to vote for him. If you asked them Obama's stance on any of the issues, they can't tell you, because they have absolutely no idea. This is retarded. I do not want the future leader of our country in control simply because he is viewed as cool and popular.

With that being said, I know that I do not know as much about the issues as I should. Therefore, to benefit myself and my readers, I shall be starting a new segment in my blog. I will start researching and reporting how each candidate views certain issues in an unbiased way. I hope to do one to two issues a week. Some issues I plan on covering include: education, health care, taxes, the economy, abortion, the Iraq war, and the environment. If you have any other issues you would like me to research and report on, please let me know and I will consider them. Be looking forward to the posts, and register to vote by midnight Monday (if you live in Texas).

Excited about the polictical process,
Jenna

Updates

Here are some updates on my life as of late (if anyone knows how to do bullet points on here, I would greatly appreciate it):

1. This weekend I went to visit Jaron. I was a great weekend and I had a ton of fun spending time with him. The best part of the weekend was getting to see him coach his new youth football team. First of all, they were cute and they all really looked up to Jaron. Second, I could tell that Jaron really liked it and really enjoyed what he was doing, and I like seeing him happy and passionate about things. Third, and most maybe most important, it made me miss coaching. I used to coach soccer when I was in high school, and watching Jaron made me really want to get into it again. Yesterday, I e-mail the presidents of some local soccer associations to see if there are any teams available. Updates to follow.

2. I've been spending a lot of time with the Phi Lambs and BYX boys here in San Marcos because I only see Jaron every other weekend and school has gotten significantly easier, giving me much more hang out with friends time. I really enjoy it. I realized today that this semester and the next are really the last times in my life where I will truly get to enjoy the college lifestyle, so I'm really trying to get the most out of it.

3. Speaking of which, I started coaching the Phi Lamb girls football team. They have won their last two games, and this past Sunday, we won by so much that the ref confessed that he didn't know what the exact score was. He said it was somewhere around 48 to 0. He also said the girls were the best girls team he has reffed so far. I wrote up some plays with Jaron's help and gave them superhero themed names, but Haley and I decided that we should change them to Harry Potter spells. Sick I know, but I'm looking forward to it.

4. The city of San Marcos has been re building the sidewalk in front of our house and today they poured the concrete for it, so me and my roommates wrote our initials in the sidewalk. I can know officially cross this off my list of things to do before I die. Pictures to follow....

5. I am considering dying my hair a auburn color. But not as dark as auburn. More like a dark red if such a hair color exists. Perhaps a little something like this:


This is simply because I want a change and I want to do something different, and because I can. Your thoughts, comments and suggestions are greatly appreciated

Loving Life,
Jenna