Life has been grand so far at the Spa!! I get to sleep in in the mornings and am learning to live life in flexibility! I love everything about the spa! I cannot say enough about the people I work with and how wonderful they are! I feel as if I have found a new family that cares for me! I love having my classmate skirmante there with me...we have a blast and are in tune with each other as to technique and such so they put us on couples massages whenever possible.

However, I have more to discuss than the spa at this point... I am 25 years old tomorrow. It seems crazy that I am 25, but at the same time I admire how far God has brought me and how he has provided for me at this young of any age! I laugh as I begin to identify with those who are 30 years old and begin to think they look younger and younger to me! lol =D The thought of a child is very prevalent in my mind turning 25 and realizing that I am closer to 30 than ever. However, I find it interesting that when the subject of children comes up I am continually told I am still so young and not to rush anything. No one said I was rushing anything, but realizing that I am not getting younger and time is not standing still. I am beginning to realize that age is relative ... I will always be young to those who are my parents age. I have noticed though that parents (to my generation) tend to tell their children not to rush things when it comes to children. However... this is also coming from a generation that had their children when they were in their young 20's and barely had anything to claim as their own. I wonder if that memory in their minds is what compels them to tell their children to take their time. Again, I am not in a rush for children, but am realizing a trend in the parents advice and the trend of todays culture to have children in their late 20's early 30's. Just an interesting observation... take from it what you will.

Back to my quarter of a century. I am reminded of the memories I cherish from my childhood and teen years. Much is thrown in there including great pain, but the funniest part is that I see what that pain made me become as a woman of God and how God has used it to teach me valuable lessons. This past year I have learned how to persevere in a hard position at work, how gracious others can be, the value of close friends, the grace, love, and mercy of parents who long to be like their Savior, everlasting patience of a husband while I go through school and work full time, and how amazing it is to be among unbelievers and learn how to stand out, but invite them in to meet my Savior! I am becoming an Aunt for the first time this fall at age 25 (funny timing). I am not sure that 25 is an age (or right ) of passage yet, but we shall see what comes with the territory. What is in store for me this year? What "surprises" or "blessings" will come upon me unexpectedly this year? How can I grow in my knowledge of Christ this year? How can I serve my Savior better? These questions I long to know the answers for, but anticipate being able to look back on this next year as a memory and seeing those blessings and hardships and how they have made me more like my Savior!

Things are moving and grooving around the Jumper house! Nathan finishes all of his things today, with the exception of his Piano Jury on the 13th. He is gearing up to go full bore into his thesis for the summer after next week! Long days with his nose in books and being in the library! I know it doesn't mean he won't make time to do fun things over the summer, but he is very dedicated to get it done this summer so he can send off final excerpts to potential doctoral programs by December. We have so much going on already for our summer it is insane! We have begun seriously searching for a bigger apartment (with the help of a realtor). We have seen three apartments so far and have not been impressed so we continue to search. We figure if we are paying a small mortgage in order to have two bedrooms and two bathrooms then we are gonna get picky ( I think with reason). We have two places we are going to look at this week and they are on the top of our list of perspective places to live, so I am excited!!

I would love to tell you we have narrowed nathan's perspective schools to three, but they continue to be rotated depending on who he is talking to. I know the top three are University of Chicago, Princeton, and University of Virginia. I have an idea as to where we might end up, but he could talk to someone else and have another school thrown in the mix of all of that. I have been praying that God would make his decision of where he wants us to go so clear we cannot miss it. Nathan worries that he will get in to more than one of this choice schools and then have to decide and he is not sure he would know where to go. This process will be more intense this fall as he begins to apply and we begin to go looking at these schools. I would greatly appreciate continued prayer as Nathan nears the end of his two programs this next school year and begins the journey into the doctoral realm.

Life has gotten "easier" ( I would definately not say less busy!) since I ended my classes on April 23rd. I have begun to have more clients, which has been exciting (hence the bigger apartment)! Lots of things are going to be changing in the next month and I will keep you updated as those changes happen. They are exciting changes and will propel us forward in making more money to be able to move on in life. God has been blessing us at every turn and it has been awesome to see how he has been providing for us along the way.

I have been reading "YOU: The Owner's Manual: An Insider's Guide to the Body that Will Make You Healthier and Younger" by Dr. Michael F. Roizen and Dr. Mehmet C. Oz. This has been a great oarallel text for me since Physiology, Pathology, and Anatomy classes! They talk about everything that I have learned about the body physically, but how to keep that healthy and young!  There is so much useful information in this book that I would have to do a chapter by chapter review of the highlights, which would take forever b/c it is such a large book. I would encourage you to get this book or borrow it from someone. I have a copy and have been underlining and marking things that I can tell clients that will improve their health. We were challeneged in Kinesiology class to try and read an hour a day in our field to further our education. That way we will continue to learn and improve ourselves for the betterment of our practice and for our clients. I have tried to take that challenge seriously and therefore began reading this book. It is not a boring read by any means. They have quite the sense of humor throughout the whole book and you laugh through the chapters because they are candid with what we as humans need and how we function (which can be humorous at times!).

That is all from the Jumper house for now. When changes begin to happen I will make sure to let you know!