What is your favorite food?

I'm sure this has happened to you (as it has to me) a million times,
someone asks you: "So what's your favorite food?".

They're either asking for a survey, a "get to know you " sheet, conversation starter, fun fact as part of a game, etc.

Truth is, every time I've been asked this question I squirm and think and can only come up with one answer: "I can't pick just one, I love all food, I'll eat anything that's edible."
I would think to myself, "I love Mexican food (how could I not?), I also love Italian, I love desserts, why can't I make up my mind?"

This weekend, I did!

My favorite food is hamburgers and hot dogs.
Outside grilled though, not the ones boiled or pan fried.

I had a Dodger dog last weekend and I ate burgers and hot dogs for a BBQ in Palm Springs, I also had a burger and hot dog on Monday night with some of our student volunteers.

Each time I ate I thought: "This is so good, I love this, I want more, the flavor is amazing, I love ketchup, relish, mustard, lettuce, tomato...YUM!"

It's official, my favorite food is BBQ food.

Thank God I made up my mind...I was getting a bit worried.

I Passed 8th Grade Math...Could you?

You Passed 8th Grade Math

Congratulations, you got 8/10 correct!

Could You Pass 8th Grade Math?

Dear IM,

Thank you for existing.

If it wasn't for you then I wouldn't be able to communicate with my friend Howard whom I love so much.

You used to get on my nerves so much because I thought you made conversations so impersonal, but now I realize that you actually help to connect people.

I am sorry if I ever underestimated you or thought unkindly of you. You have really changed my life by helping me to spend time with Howard although he is so far away.

Please know that I love you (not like that, a friendly love).
Thank you for all that you do.

Your friend,
Jessica

Weekly Prayer #14

Lord,

I pray that I would become a better communicator.
Not necessaily with people around me (although that would be nice) but mostly with You.

Thanks,
Jessica

Picture of the Week Vol. 4

Who: Bibi, Angie and I
What: Constipation
Where: Palm Springs Elephant Bar
When: Saturday, April 21st
Why: Just look at Bibi's face...Priceless.

My "Disturbed" Small Group

Last night my Small Group went out to watch "Disturbia".
It was a good movie and had zero grossness (which really impressed me).

The only thing was that everytime a suspenseful moment would come up, the girls in my small group would start screaming. And I don't mean the "oops I got a little scared" scream...I mean the "I am on a rollercoaster and I just plumeted down 100 ft." kind of scream. It made us laugh everytime. It was fun.

Some of the girls, right after the movie.
Chris.

We went to Burger King right after...yum!

Camera-shy Alex.

Howard's daughters ("Daddy" in little green man voices).

Brenda and Steph.

We finished the night off with a friendly game of "Big Kids Value Meal Sponge Bob Playing Cards" Speed. Thanks David!

Donald Joseph Murray the Third

No, I'm not talking about the new royal member of a British family...I'm talking about my baby nephew, Baby Don.

In honor of my new camera and in honor of his cuteness I decided to do a photo shoot of all things Baby Don.

Enjoy!

Don't take it personally...he sticks his tongue out at everyone.

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

This weekend, while at dinner in Palm Springs, Bibi, Angie and I decided to play a game where one of us would shout out a scenario and we'd all have to react to that specific scenario mentioned.
We had to react with only our facial expressions and we'd take a picture at that moment.

Here are the pictures:

You're about to run into a bush while on your bike.
You've just walked in to your own surprise birthday party...you hate surprises.

You're constipated.

You just found out your car got totalled.

You were giving a toast in honor of yourself (as some people did that night).

You are saying "seriously" as a character from Grey's Anatomy.

You miss Howard.

Someone is annoying you.

It was so much fun...one of the best moments from the retreat. We laughed so hard!

Special Delivery!

I got my camera last week!!!!!

And this explains why you will be seeing many, many more pictures on my blog!

Woot, woot!

This Weekend in Pictures

We had our Leadership Retreat with all of our volunteers this past weekend in Palm Springs...here are this weekend's highlights:

This is what we encountered on our way there.
The mountains were full of snow...luckily, we weren't headed that way:)Here's Jorge doing tricks!

Dinner on the first night...I cooked!

Saturday was a beautiful day...here's a pool side picture:

Bibi felt the need to show off her "girly" toe nails.

Janette and I went bike riding.

The vegans even enjoyed our BBQ lunch (yay for Boca burgers!).

Damaris and I.

Maribel and I.

Dinner at the Elephant Bar.

Damaris showing off her self-made hat!

Here's what I had.

Almost everyone.

Janette, me, Damaris and Angie :)

It was a great weekend. It had its moments but overall it went smoothly.

My favorite moments:

*Bike riding (I rode more than anyone else).

*Great conversations.

*Prayer time with Janette.

*The picture game with Angie and Bibi (pictures will be up on a later post).

*Alone time with God and communion on Sunday morning.

I hope we can do it again soon!

I Couldn't of Said it Better Myself

The following lyrics are lyrics that have deeply impacted me in these last few days.

It's a Relient K song...I'm sure you'll say, "Relient K...yeah real deep".

But really, take the time to read the lyrics.

It's powerful when we can commit ourselves to not give up on our relationship with God and how even though we might struggle He is so faithful to accept us just as we are; with our flaws, insecurities, mistakes, shortcomings. That makes me be on the "up and up". It has re-inspired me to push toward sanctification and be more like Him.

(the parts in bold are the ones that really speak to me)

"Up And Up"

Yesterday
Is not quite what it could've been
As were most of all the days before
But I swear today
With every breath
I'm breathing in
I'll be trying to make it so much more
Cause it seems I get so hung up on
The history of what's gone wrong
And the hope of a new day
Is sometimes hard to see (what you see)
But I'm finally catching onto it
And now the past is just a conduit
And the light there at the end is
Where I'll be

Cause I'm on the up and up
I'm on the up and up
And I haven't given up
Given up on what
I know I'm capable of
I'm on the up and up
Yeah there's nothing left to prove
Cause I'm just trying to be
A better version of me
For You
A better version of me
For You

To be prosperous
Would not require much of me
You see contentment is the one thing
It entails
To be content with where I am
And getting where I need to be
I'm moving past the past
Where I have failed
But I'm finally catching onto it
Yeah the past is just a conduit
And the light there at the end
Is where I'll be
Oh

Cause I'm on the up and up
I'm on the up and up
And I haven't given up
Given up on what
I know I'm capable of
I'm on the up and up
Yeah there's nothing left to prove
Cause I'm just trying to be
A better version of me
For you
A better version of me
For you

You never cease
To supply me with
What I need
For a good life
So when I'm down
I'll hold my head up high
Cause you're the reason why

I'm on the up and up
I'm on the up and up
And I haven't given up
Given up on what
I know I'm capable of
I'm on the up and up
Yeah there's nothing left to prove
Cause I'm just trying to be
A better version of me
For you
(Trying to be a better version of me for you)

Palm Springs...Oh How I Long to See Thee

I leave for Palm Springs tomorrow afternoon and, let me tell you, it is much needed time away.
We leave with 18 of our youth ministry volunteers for a time to hang out, fellowship, relax and plan many more things for the upcoming school year.

I can't wait and am going to pack once I get home tonight.

Here are some things I am planning to do while out in P.S.

1. Watch some Grey's.
2. Swim.
3. Laugh...a lot.
4. Sleep.
5. Eat good food.
6. Reconnect with some of our volunteers.
7. Hang out.
8. Spend time with God.
9. Say, "I wish Howard was here."
10. Cuddle with friends.

I'm sure it'll be good.

Weekly Prayer #13

To: God

I'd really love to get my new camera delivered to me by Friday morning (in time for Palm Springs).

Please place it in the UPS man's heart to be speedy.

From: Your Girl

As promised...

below are two of the four blogs I wrote about in this post.

The other two will be here tomorrow :)

Old Friends=New Joy

You know how there are times when you won't see or hang out with someone for a long time?
Then when you finally see them you ask yourself, "Why hadn't we hung out in so long? I like this person, they're fun to be with. I should make time in my schedule to be with them more often."

Exactly that (times two) happened to me a couple of weeks ago (I was meaning to blog about it but didn't have time because of my Easter fiasco).

I met up with two of my Biola friends: Rosalba and Jason.

Rosalba is amazing. She was a friend, counselor, mentor, accountability partner and my boss while at Biola. We clicked once we met. And have been great friends ever since. She really is one of the most influential people in my life.

Jason and I weren't close while at Biola but after he got back from Iraq God did something special in our friendship and we have remained good friends since he graduated.

We hadn't seen each other for a couple of months so we met up for dinner at the Fitness Grill in Brea.
It was so much fun! I love being with them because we have GREAT conversation (lasted until 1AM). I really missed them and I hope to reconnect with them soon.

They are old friends, but still they brought tons of new joy to my heart.

Easter: the most busiest time of the year

I have often heard that Christmas in the most wonderful time of the year. I agree...it is!

This year I found out that when you're in Children's Ministry, Easter is the most busiest time of the year.

Let's compare:

1. Easter while ONLY in youth ministry:
-All student ministries weekend services are called off for the weekend which means little to no planning throughout the week.
-Students are on break from school so you get to casually hang out...and it counts as work.
-You get to enjoy the "big church" services (only need go to one).
-there isn't a care in mind as you hang out with family and friends.

2. Easter while in BOTH youth and children's ministry:
-Plan (months in advance) for 4 weekend services to do for kids on Easter weekend.
-Not only do you need a program with kids, you also need snacks, games, gifts, prizes, etc.
-Prep with a team that doesn't want to be there, they'd much rather be inside the "big church" enjoying the service.
-Get to the church at 7:20am and leave at 3:30pm on Easter Sunday.
-Bake 158 cupcakes the night before Easter.

I don't want to complain but is was rough.

I am so thankful for all of the hardwork that all my youth ministry friends invested in this day although it wasn't even part of their responsibility. They are amazing!

Maybe that's why I've been on such an emotional rollercoaster ever since Easter-it's probably been sheer exhaustion.

*I'd post pictures, but for some strange reason, I can't load them right now...it won't let me.

Tour de Dodgers

(*Note: the picture below was my favorite from today's tour!)

Last Sunday night Howard, Bibi, Jorge, Edgar and I went to go see the Dodger/Padres game at Dodger Stadium.

I hadn't been to a game in years so I was excited. Especially because Bibi and Jorge had practically been raised going to Dodger games so they gave us lots of inside scoop stuff.

Bibi gave me a tour around, what seemed like, the entire stadium.

Here are the pictures:

Everywhere we went seemed to say this:

Vin was busy inside the press box, all we could do was swoon.

We did a little shopping.

I even got Howard something.

We visited the Stadium Club Restaurant.

Here's the view from inside...simply amazing.

The game was sold out.

The higher we went, the lovelier it got.

It's a long way down (it made Bibi queasy).

Oh, I was thinking blue alright.

The view was so nice.

I tasted garlic fries for the very first time...delicious!

The Dodger Stadium staircases aren't very safe looking.

The boys had fun too.

One of the ball boys got hit in the face with a ball. Yikes!

It got cold!!!

We had so much fun!

Can't wait for the sequel!