Don’t forget–if you want a super fab Chris Tomlin cd (and who doesn’t?), then leave your happy list. And you can write more than one! Each list= an entry! The more happy lists the better! See details HERE. You have until Wed. September 3rd. Speaking of Chris Tomlin, I have a student whose last name is Tomlin. Today I randomly asked him who his favorite band was, and he says, “Chris Tomlin.” And I’m like, “OMIGOSH…are you like…RELATED?” And he says (are you ready for this????)
“No.”
That kid almost had an instant A.

Here’s today’s “Things I’m Happy for Right Now” list.

1. Today’s Friday, and I don’t even have a funeral this weekend!

2. Going to the movies tonight. It’s been a while, and I’m having withdrawals.

3. No students for 3 days. Thank you Jesus. You are mighty to save.

4. Time to read a meaningless romance novel (or two) (or three)

5. Cool front this weekend!

6. The smell of rain

7. Three day weekend.

8. Joyce Meyer’s take on anything. (And you can download her free on ipod! I’m loving that!)

9. Today is Friday.

10. My mom’s cooking.

11. A clean kitchen (which I have when I eat at my mother’s)

12. Sonic grilled cheese. It’s hard to go wrong with Texas toast and a slab of American.

13. Good friends (some whom I’ve never even met) who play along with the Things That Make Me Happy list.

So we all know who Obama picked for his number two. But McCain is still keeping his pasty lips zipped. (Seriously, his mouth is gray. Two words, Mr. McCain…Estee Lauder.) Anyway, I don’t know who he is picking, but today I got to thinking of my own choices, should Senator McCain happen to call me and ask for my opinion. (And I always think not enough people take advantage of that free service I offer.)

1. Condoleeza Rice- HELLLEWWWW! This woman could run the world. Literally. Like the woman runs, bikes, plays the piano, dresses okay, never has a bad hair day, and not only does she understand foreign policy, but she understands sports. What’s not to love? She has my vote for Queen of the Universe.

2. Bill Cosby-The Coz has made some mistakes and marital boo-boos (which automatically makes him a shoo-in for politics), but was there ever a better TV dad than him? And who better to co-run the USA than Dr. Huxtable? That guy knew everything. And Bill Cosby does not take any crap. Have you heard him get on his soap box about his social issues and parenting? He makes you shake your head and say, “Amen,” even if you’re not the sort and have nothing more than a cat listed as your dependent. And he’s funny. And he does impressions. And we haven’t had an actor in the White House in a while. And he doesn’t wear those ugly sweaters anymore.

3. That doctor from House. Speaking of not putting up with crap. He’s a little intimidating. And the guy’s like brilliant. Have you ever solved the case while watching? No. Me neither.

4. Agent Booth from the show Bones. Because he’s hot. And this is my list. And I’ve liked him since he had fangs and permanent depression on Buffy. Not that I watched that show. I just remember a few commercials…or something.

5. Ben Stiller’s dad, Jerry. Somehow I think this guy just makes the world a better place.

6. Michael Phelps. Sure he’s a little young, but clearly he’s a winner. He has a good support system in his mom, and he’s already won over the hearts of many countries. And you have to trust a guy who would never pee in a pool.

7. The Jonas Brothers. Here’s a harsh truth–sometimes people get picked for things just because they’re popular.

8. John and Kate Plus Eight. They’ve already successfully managed a small legion of kids. What’s another 300 million people to take care of?

9. Raven from That’s So Raven. She’s funny and she’s psychic. If she said there were WMDs, I’d believe her. And she has survived Hollywood without falling off the good girl wagon and turning into a total hooch.

10. Carlton from Fresh Prince. The VP doesn’t really do anything anyway, but  Carlton could be the dancing VP. America needs a little cheering up. Besides…argyle sweater vests–how can you go wrong? And bad dancing never looked so good.

11. That Bush’s Baked Beans dog. Sure he’s got a big mouth, but he’s really sweet about it. Squealers usually aren’t cute.

12. Iron Man. Did you see that movie? Um, yeah. He can do anything in that little souped-up jumpsuit.

13. Jack Black. He sings, he makes up songs, he has cool moves, and I think he would sympathize with my idea for an all-sweats dress code in public schools. It’s just a hunch.

14. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, Saturday Night Live alums. Because they’re funny and know just what inappropriate thing to say at just the right moment. This could bring a new level of coolness to our international affairs and boring State of the Union addresses.

15. Dr. Oz. Except for his fruity beliefs on past lives, he’s a-okay. We need someone to make us (me) drop the cheese burgers and snap us (me) back into shape. Plus he comes with all sorts of neato visual aids.

Well, that’s my list. What about yours? Who do you think would make a great vice-prez?

Speaking of president… I have a bit of news. Thanks to my friend Sal for getting me to this point in my life. (Mom, you might want to sit down for this.) Ladies and gentlemen…without further ado, I, Jenny B. Jones am throwing my hat into the presidential ring as well! I’ve already received quite a bit of coverage already, and my grandma campaign manager is immensely pleased. Check it out HERE.

Have a great weekend. Keep your happy lists coming!

JEN

Here’s a little book review and link to a sample chapter. I thought this book had some moments of sizzle, which is something you don’t find in Christian fiction romance. Check it out.

This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing

A Passion Redeemed
Revell (September 1, 2008)
by
Julie Lessman

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Julie Lessman is a debut author who has already garnered writing acclaim, including ten Romance Writers of America awards. She is a commercial writer for Maritz Travel, a published poet and a Golden Heart Finalist. Julie has a heart to write “Mainstream Inspirational,” reaching the 21st-century woman with compelling love stories laced with God’s precepts. She resides in Missouri with her husband and their golden retriever, and has two grown children and a daughter-in-law. A Passion Most Pure was her first novel.

ABOUT THE BOOK

No man can resist her charms. Or so she thought. Charity O’Connor is a woman who gets what she wants. Her stunning beauty and flirtatious ways have always succeeded with men. Until Mitch Dennehy, that is.

Brilliant and dangerously handsome, Mitch is a no-nonsense newspaperman who wants nothing to do with her. Charity burned him once, destroying his engagement to the only woman he ever truly loved. He won’t play with matches again. But Charity has a plan to turn up the heat, hoping to ignite the heart of the man she loves. And she always gets what she wants–one way or another.

Or does she? Will her best-laid schemes win his love? Or will her seductive ways drive him away forever? Book 2 in the Daughters of Boston series, A Passion Redeemed will captivate your heart and stir your soul with a story of faith and redemption rising from the ashes of temptation, desire, and shame.

Praise for the first book in the series:

“Full of romance, humor, rivalry, and betrayal, A Passion Most Pure will captivate readers from the first page.” –Historical Novels Review “Superb! Incredible!

“I loved Julie Lessman’s A Passion Most Pure from the second I picked it up until the very last moment I stopped reading.” –Armchair Interviews

“I devoured this book and loved every single page. . . . This is a thick, juicy read, and one I would pick up again in a heartbeat.” –christianreviewofbooks.com

If you would like to read an excerpt from A Passion Redeemed, go HERE.

I am LOVING these “Things That Make Me Happy Right Now” lists. They make ME happy just to read them. I seriously smile with every one. So keep them coming. If you want to be entered in the drawing for Chris Tomlin’s new CD HELLO LOVE, then leave your happy list. See Monday’s post for more info. You have until September third.

So what was Mary Kate Olson thinking HERE? Seriously, WHY is she considered some sort of fashion icon? She FORGOT her PANTS for crying out loud!

I’ve mentioned Tyler Perry before, but I LOVE this guy and his movies (most of them). I’m a firm believer in supporting his stuff even if it looks stinky because he is a bold Christian out there making it in Hollywood. I’m on his mailing list (not his personal friends list, of course, but his mass email type of thing. But maybe one day…) and I love to get the occasional email. Read THIS and tell me this doesn’t make you proud of Tyler Perry.

So every year I do this pop quiz when I first meet my students. I give them this big story about how I always got the skinny on my new teachers back in the day (I truly did. From elementary through college), and I’m sure they’ve done the same thing. Then I give them a quiz with questions about moi. They’re told it’s worth 500 points, and if they fail it, they might as well not come to class because they’re is no recovering. AND if they should happen not to know an answer…make something up really good and pray for mercy and partial credit. I thought I’d share some answers.

1. What is my worst junior high memory?
You didn’t have one. You were too cool.

2. What is my favorite song?
“I’m Bringing Sexy Back.”
“Tastes Like Kevin Bacon” by I Wrestled a Bear Once. (this is a real group/song)
“MsJonesAlicious”

3. What are some of my hobbies?
Reading, shopping, and dazzling people with my awesomeness.
Frolicking through flowers
Cage wrestling

4. If I had not become a teacher, I would’ve been a…
Street-dancing nun
Roller disco lady
Hannah Montana impersonator
Bunny-eared TV set antennae receiver helper

5. What’s a sport I like to watch?
Tongue ping-pong
Extreme ironing

6. At what school did I previously teach?
Alcatraz

7. What’s my cat’s name?
LL Cool Whip

8. What is my favorite food?
Children

9. What book am I reading now?
Harry Potter and the Midlife Crisis

Aren’t they so clever? Brilliant is the only kind I teach. ; )

I’m SUPER excited over all the talk here that we’ll have an early winter. I know that doesn’t necessarily translate into a snowy, school-closing winter, but still. A girl can dream.

My mom said that someone at work said that the woolly worms are out (or something. They are definitely doing something). And because there was fog in August, there will be snow in winter. And the Golden Rods have already bloomed (Don’t know what that is, but I’m glad they’re early). AND the katydids are out and making noise. And my friend’s mom (hey, Vanessa Hall!) said she saw monarch butterflies migrating. And the Farmers Almanac is predicting early winter and big stuff. And I’ve been seeing ducks or birds migrating too. I’m not sure if it’s North. I don’t really know my directions, but I’m sure birds flying to the left of Walgreens has to mean something.

Don’t forget you can submit more than one happy list!

Here’s mine for today:

THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY RIGHT NOW

1. Talk of early winter

2. Getting “my” seat at the movie theater

3. Five minutes of energy

4. My new pens!!!

5. People magazine’s CD and book reviews.

6. Mini chocolate donuts

7. Catching an old favorite Friends episode (“It’s a moo point…”)

8. New YouTube videos

9. Winning a bid on eBay

10. A good hair day (even a good hair hour)

Have a great week. And if you see anything migrating early, let me know.

JEN

Summer Olympics ’08 are no more. I know for those of you who have been watching, this is a hard, sad time of goodbye. As mentioned, I didn’t watch them, so I’m perfectly fine. However, I did watch some Gossip Girl reruns this summer, and I think my brain is scarred.

National Geographic reports that scientists in South Korea are now genetically creating glow-in-the-dark cats. You can see the video HERE. I personally think they are hideous. How could you sleep with some little day-glo orange thing running around all night? Thanks to my friend Kari for pointing out this weird phenomena to me. Her facebook status said, “I want a glow in the dark cat.” And since my friend Kari HATES cats and pets in general, I had to investigate. (This was after asking her if she got one, would she eat it.) How about something more useful? Like glow-in-the dark car keys?

Did you know Danielle Radcliffe (Harry Potter) was diagnosed with Dyspraxia? I totally knew what that was. (Okay, no I had to Google it.) It’s a neurological disorder that makes you clumsy. So dibs on Dyspraxia! Who’s with me? If clumsy is a disease, I think I have a terminal case. Harry Potter and I are alike in so many ways.

It has been an insane month of funerals for me. I’ve lost two former co-workers just in the last week. At one of the funerals Saturday, they read from my friend’s journal. She was religious about journaling. This is an amazing blessing and gift to the two-year old daughter she leaves behind. But at the service they read a page. It was so simple, but yet really revealed her heart and personality. It was just a fun list of things that made her happy at that given time. So here’s my list for today. . .

Things That Make Me Happy Right Now

1. The Olympics are over. (Sorry! I don’t like baseball either, but I promise you, my U.S. citizenship is confirmed.)

2. Tea. I have a strange diet, and this is forever not on it. But I sneak it in anyway. Tea = Euphoria.

3. The smell of citrus–in oranges, in my perfume, orange rolls, in nasty toilet bowl cleaner. Whatever.

4. Saturdays. Enough said.

5. My niece’s curly ringlets.

6. My nephew still holding my hand, even though he’s a total tough dude.

7. Magazines. Not that I read all of them I buy. I’d be much smarter if I did. Or at least dress better.

8. Sixty five degrees and breezy. Can’t wait for fall.

9. Finding a pair of shoes you KNOW you won’t be taking back.

10. Sitting with my mom in church.

11. Randomly catching the last twenty minutes of While You Were Sleeping.

12. Burt’s Bees lip balm.

13. Song number 8 on the Jekyll and Hyde Broadway soundtrack.

Okay, so that’s my list. Now it’s YOUR turn. If you would like to be entered into a drawing for the new Chris Tomlin CD (due Sept 2!!!), then leave a comment with your own list of at least 7 things that make you happy right now. Not as in happy for all time like oxygen, your family, God. But SPECIFIC like your daughter’s giggle, or a specific verse God showed you, or the perfect steak you had for dinner. You have until Wednesday, September 3rd to post your list!!! If you post more than once (different list, of course), then I’ll enter your name each time! (As long as it stays original and sincere. None of this: I am happy for feet, arms, elbows, blood vessels, and corneas.)

I DARE you to take the happy list challenge!!!

Have a great week!

JEN

This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
Merciless
(Bethany House – July 1, 2008)
by
Robin Parrish

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Robin Parrish had two great ambitions in his life: to have a family, and to be a published novelist. In March of 2005, he proposed to his future wife the same week he signed his first book contract.

More than ten years he spent writing for various websites, including About.com, CMCentral.com, and Infuze Magazine, which is a unique intersection between art and faith which he also conceived of and created.

One of his more “high concept” ideas for Infuze was to return to his love for storytelling and create a serialized tale that would play out every two weeks, telling a complete, compelling story over the course of nine months. That serialized story eventually came to the attention of several publishers, who saw it as a potential debut novel for Robin Parrish.

In 2005, Bethany House Publishers brought Robin full circle by contracting him for the rights to not only that first book, Relentless — but two sequels including Fearless and Merciless. A trilogy that unfolded in the consecutive summers of 2006, 2007, and this year, 2008. One massive tale — of which that first, original story would form only the foundational first volume of the three — spread across three books.

Robin Parrish is a journalist who’s written about pop culture for more than a decade. Currently he serves as Senior Editor at XZOOSIA.com, a community portal that fuses social networking with magazine-style features about entertainment and culture. He and his wife, Karen and son live in North Carolina.

ABOUT THE BOOK

The world as we know it has ENDED.
DEATH and CHAOS creep across the globe and only the POWERLESS can RISE UP to stop it.

But can anything stop the onslaught of the DARKWORLD

From the earth’s depths crawls a figure with skin like granite, flames for eyes, and the face of Grant Borrows.
Oblivion has arrived.

Every clock around the world has stopped. Time has frozen.

The Secretum have fulfilled the prophecy, unleashing on earth the most powerful being to walk the earth in thousands of years. His name is Oblivion and his touch is death.

He can’t be slowed.
He can’t be stopped.
And he can’t be killed.

But as long as any live who trust in hope and love and freedom, the fight is not over.

They have only one chance before he brings forth the Darkworld.

Oblivion is: Merciless

“Robin Parrish is the kind of writer who understands how to entertain from the word go. His stories are sure to shape fiction for years to come.”
~TED DEKKER, author of ADAM

If you would like to read the first chapter of Merciless, go HERE