BLOG-Post List

- From Bibi's Desk
- White House Black Market dresses
- Favorite Knott's pictures
- Memorial Day
- Foster's Freeze

Why I love* Knott's

* I don't love Knott's. I actually would be lying if I said I did. I kind of really dislike it.

#1 I paid almost $30 to get in and only got on about 8 rides.
#2 They only have about 8 rides I can actually "ride" on.
#3 Their pizza takes a little rubbery.
#4 There is a plethora of trash all over the floors.
#5 The "Log Ride" never works when I'm there.
#6 The employees look like they aren't old enough to drive a car, much less manage a roller coaster.
#7 They have this kind of art displayed on their roof tops:

Yes, this is actual gum--a rather large collection of gum--gracing the top of the roof of a ride were about to board (Silver Bullet, to be exact). Side note, the picture does this scene little justice.

Picture of the Week Vol. 7

German and I tried three times in order to get this picture just right. Didn't work, but ultimately I liked our first try the best--it's the most "natural".
This is us, doing what we do best: having fun at weekend services...oh, and looking dang tangedy too!

Extra Long Weekend

This weekend was so busy that I had to wait until yesterday to be able to update my posts.
Let me give you a brief synopsis (I do promise to post with more detail about each event in individual posts):

FRIDAY
*work until 1:30pm
*p/u my mom and grams at the airport
*head over to my house to get some of my grandma's stuff
*go to visit my uncle and drop off my grandma
*have some pozole with my mom, grandma, and Edgar at my uncles house
*go home and rest a bit
*drop Edgar off
*pick Bibi up
*stop by the Olive Garden and pick up a gift card for Tina
*have an amazing time at Tina's grad party at Red Robin

SATURDAY
*do Kid Kare at church for the "Focus on the Family" Seminar (9am-2pm)
*have meeting with Student Leadership (2-3:30pm)
*take shower
*go to Blockbuster with Edgar to buy used DVDs
*hang out with my family
*buy stuff from the ice cream truck
*watch "The Final Cut" (with my parents and sister chatting it up in the kitchen-with my aunt- while Edgar slept on my couch)
*drop Edgar off
*study Sunday's message
*go to bed

SUNDAY
*share at both Sunday services (on deepening our faith and relationship with God)
*do a little drive-thru action at Carl's Jr. with Janette
*go to Knott's for the better part of the day
*pick my mom up from my uncle's house
*go home and to bed

MONDAY
*go grocery shopping with my mom at 8:30am
*Hardcore meeting at IHop
*go to a BBQ with the main adult leaders
*go to a BBQ at home
*have fun with my familia
*chat with my cousins
*organize some papers in my room
*organize some shelves in my room
*go to bed

TUESDAY (I didn't realize I actually had a four day weekend until Edgar explained to me that I normally have Tuesday off, hence my four day weekend)
*wake up way too early
*clean my room
*clean the kitchen
*run errand
*feel sick
*go to bed-where I spend the rest of the afternoon
*tutor
*go back home
*chores
*try to go to bed
*can't
*finally go to bed

Yes, long weekend...but really I worked through my weekend...so not such a long weekend after all, huh?

Guess Who's Back, Back Again...

My mom!

Edgar and I picked her and my grandma up from the airport on Friday afternoon!

So good to see her again!

All went well and my grandma is now a U.S. resident! Woo-Hoo!
They had a great, but tiring time! They also got hit up with some foreign tummy problems...but are feeling a lot better now that they're back on U.S. soil!

Good Friends

The other day I saw that Bibi finally posted on her blog.

As I began to read I realized that she posted about me.

This made me feel like a million bucks!

I have now concluded that one amazing way to make people feel special is to post about them on your blog!

Try it!

Jorge Bracy

You've read a lot about my friend Bibi Bracy here on the blog.

She's one of my favorite people in the world.

She also happens to have a little brother and sister, Jorge and Connie.

Jorge is just a couple of years younger than her...but Jorge looks and acts a bit older than his age (always has...well, at least since I've known him).

Lately Jorge has become part of our little group when we hang out.

He's with us:
in the pool...

having lunch...

at the beach...

at shops (note: I didn't say shopping because we never actually buy anything)...

at parties...

And you know what? He's a lot of fun.

SOME THINGS I ENJOY ABOUT JORGE:
He likes to laugh a lot.

He says inappropriately funny comments in front of girls.

He likes to physically fight (wrestle) in public.

He is very opinionated.

He is not shy about the truth.

He knows how to throw out the low blows.

He looks manly while driving a Bronco.

He has one of the most "Colgate-ed" smiles I've ever seen.
He takes care of his feet.

He likes to give piggy back rides.

He Makes Me Bubble

Got this CD:
a couple of weeks ago.

He performs at the Greek Theater in August...looks like it's sold out.
But I will try my best to get my grubby paws on at least two tickets...just watch me.

Simple Pleasures

The older I get the more I am learning to really enjoy the simplest of things.

When I was little I didn't understand why my mom liked to stay in bed in the evenings, rest at home all weekend, have dinner at the table every night or make breakfast with the whole family on Saturday mornings.

And as a teenager I understood it even less. My life was all about my friends, church, school, me. If it wasn't wild and crazy and exciting I thought it was boring and when I was home I felt like I was on fire...couldn't wait to get out.

Now, it's different--I'm different.

Case in Point:
Last Saturday our Hardcore meeting got cancelled so Bibi and I decided to go to Stonewood and check if some shoes she liked came in a different color.
-We went to Bakers--where I bought some shoes.
-Went into Pac Sun.
-Went to Bath and Body Works, washed our hands and tried on lovely scents and fragrances.
-Bought some nachos.
-Bought a pretzel and pretzels bites.
-Went to Kelly's Coffee and ate our nachos, pretzels and I opted for a Mocha ice blend.
-Had great conversation (as usual when I'm with Bibi).
-Then we went to Bibi's and watched the season 1 finale of Grey's Anatomy.

This was one of the most enjoyable afternoons/evenings I've spend recently.

Nothing major...but all the small stuff just made my day!

MISSING: My camera

Actually, my camera isn't really missing. It's taking a much needed vacation in Mexico...with my mom and grandma.

I miss it though.

Didn't realize how much I did until we were at Bolsa Chica last weekend and I wanted to take a picture of Janette falling...so dang funny.

Changes

I'm needing a little bit of change in my life right now.

Just found out that Blogger has a new feature where you can create your own header, so I'm looking into designing one and propping it up there.

Along with a new header must come a new title for the ol' blog.

Any suggestions?

My Life as a List

I am a person who enjoys making lists.

I like to make lists of things I need to do...

things I dislike...

things I strongly like...

things I need to write...

places I need to go...

things I need to buy.

They bring me much pleasure and fulfilment.

But the other day I caught myself making a list of something that even I thought was a bit strange:

Things I want/need to blog about.

I've been jotting down notes about interesting things I experience that I want to blog about. Things during my day, weekend, funny story, etc.
As of right now, here are some of the things on my blog list:

* Bibi and I hanging out on Saturday.
* My missing camera.
* Jorge Bracy.
* Having OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder).

Hopefully I get to blog about all of these things...and if I don't at least you know what's been on my mind.

Dear Small Group members,

Why did you have to interrupt the lesson so much last night?

All of the whispers and side comments made it difficult for me to focus while sharing God's Word.
The worst part of all is that I was tired so I didn't even bother calling you out on what you were doing.

Fact is, you do this often.
It's kind of getting to me. It makes me feel discouraged at times. I don't know what to tell you to help you see any different.

Next time, let's try a little harder.

Jessica

P.S. German I missed you.

Picture of the Week Vol. 6

There's nothing that says friendship more than accompanying each other into the Seal Beach public restrooms.

Bibi, thank you for your friendship.

For Howard Chang

Here's a picture of his puppies...all dressed up for a party!

Hope you like it!

I love him/her/them, but...

This phrase is one that is commonly known to come out of my mouth.

It's usually used right before I'm about to make a critical, yet not positive, statement about someone or something that particular someone does.

Examples:
- "I love him, but can't he ever shut up?"
- "I love her, but she's got major dependency issues."
- "I love them, but why do they have to be so annoying?"

My friends Bibi and Janette always know when one of these comments is about to come out of my mouth because they immediately start laughing and prepare themselves for the worse.

Unfortunately, tonight I must give one of them this phrase:

Janette,

I love you, but you never put your name at the end of your comments on my posts. I know it's you, but I would love for everyone else who reads my blog to know it's you too. It would mean a lot to me if you started to do that.

Love you (not buts),
Jessica :)

I Want My Mommy

The more things change, the more things stay the same.
This saying...it true.

My mom and grandma went out of town this week.

My dad and I dropped them off at the airport on Wednesday night...

I spoke to my mom on Thursday morning and needed to hang the phone up right away because my voice was getting wiggly. I cried after we hung up.

Thought about her all day and what she was doing, who she was with, if she was having fun. Teared up again.
Cleaned the house just like she'd want me to...cried a little as I cleaned.

I really miss her.

And it reminds me of a time my mom went out of town when I was little.
My grandpa passed away and she left that same day. My sister and I missed her so much that we cried every day. We'd go into her closet, close the door, smell her perfume on her neatly hung up clothes and cry, longing to smell the real her and hold her close.

I called my sister the day after my mom left and said, "I miss her", my voice even got shaky while saying this. My sister's response, "Even though I don't live there anymore and don't see her every day, it's just knowing she's near...I miss her too."

Even though I am a grown up I still miss my mom, I hate being away from her. I wonder if she needs me for something, misses me...I know she does because she tells me so. Even when I sleep over at a friends house these thoughts still cross my mind.

Needless to say...I feel like I'm still a kid a lot of the time...I love my mom and miss her tons when we're apart.

How about you?

Out of the mouth of Howard**

Jessica: So what have you been up to?

Howard: Nothing much.

Jessica: What did you do today?

Howard: Just watched some tv, danced a little, took a shower and then came to work.

Howard was referring to his new hobby, "Dance, Dance Revolution". I never thought I would ever hear Howard utter the words "I danced a little" in casual conversation.

If you read this and aren't laughing...maybe we shouldn't be friends...I laughed for days...and am actually laughing (out loud) right now as I type this...and have laughed every time I have thought about posting this.

**This phrase didn't actually come out of Howard's mouth but he did IM it. So whenever I think of it, I imagine his voice saying the words in his monotone form. It makes it even funnier...try it.

Janette, Bibi, David, Jorge, Ruby and I (Damaris too)

Yesterday was such a fun, yet completely exhausting, day!

The services and classes ran smoothly. Everything seemed to go well and everyone (but Willy) behaved (that's a story for another post).
Edgar's message about reaching out to guests and non-believers was great. Unfortunately, we did catch some "holy huddles" forming at the end of the first service. Luckily, Derek had his amazing new camera with him, so we were able to capture the "huddles" in action and confront the culprits, with the photographic evidence. We even had a repeat offender (Melissa).

After that, Janette, Bibi, David (Bibi and Jorge's cousin), Jorge and I drove out to Seal Beach and had lunch at Ruby's on the pier.

Before we got off the car we found out that Jorge's window didn't want to go up (Bibi and Jorge just got a "new" Bronco---that's another post too). So the boys stayed behind, and attempted to make the window go up, while we went to Ruby's to get a table.

The weather was so cloudy that it took only a second for us to be seated...nobody was there (oh, except for two loud screaming children).
Waiting there only made us hungrier so we decided to order without the boys. Just as we were getting ready to place our orders the boys called saying the window finally budged...we still ordered ahead of them :)

Our amazing waiter, Matt, informed us that he would refill our fries for free so we all decided to get different fries/sides so we could taste them all (they were refillable, after all):

I got the cheeseburger with garlic fries
Janette got the cheeseburger with Cajun fries
Bibi got the guacamole burger (substituted the patty) with regular fries
Jorge got the guacamole one too but with chili fries and
David got the I'm not sure with onion rings.

Lunch was delicious!
I'd never gone to Ruby's before...so for a first...I had fun and my tummy was definitely left satisfied.

After that, we walked around and just "shopped". Janette and I tried to convince Jorge to buy us stuff but he refused. I will be back next week when I get payed! There are some amazing Roxy articles (including a bug-eyed pair of shades) waiting for me to purchase them.

Then, we went to Bolsa Chica.
Set up by the pit, played in the cold water, laughed (a lot) and started the fire. Damaris joined us there...which was great since we hardly get to hang out.

Had tons of conversation, took mini naps in the car, spoke Spanish for half the night, played Verdadero o Verdadero y tuvimos un gran tiempo.

Al fin de la noche Janette y yo nos subimos al carro the Damaris y nos sentamos en las puertas (en la parte donde estan las ventanas) mientras Damaris daba vueltas en el estacionamento. Que divertido! (just a taste of what half the night sounded like)

The best line of the day was Jorge telling me, "Yeah it was fun, I never got to spend time with you and actually have fun." It was like his way of affirming, "Wow, you're actually fun! Congratulations!". Haha, love it!

Strike a Pose!

A couple of Sundays ago a group of us surprisingly came in to the service all dressed up. Ever since we lost the tent it's been hard to wear our Sunday best since...we're forced to be outdoors in a filthy parking lot.

In commemoration of this special moment German thought it would be a good idea to take some evidence (photos) of us and how dang good we looked!

German and Peter--Accountability Partners and Hot Car Models
Janette and I--the love is there!

Peter and German--the love is really there! Note Edgar, gazing jealousy, in the background.

Here we all are--2 pairs of eyes closed, two pairs open and one mysterious pair.

Everyone said Edgar's face looked twice as big as mine.

Trust me...there's a lot more hotness on its' way!

German E. is back to Blog E.ng

German's blog is back up and in full effect...check it out!

He's one cool kid.

*Note to German: I'm proud of you kid.

But I thought I was Meredith?

In honor of the season finale of Grey's Anatomy I took the "Grey's Diagnosis" test to find out what character I am most like.

The first time I took it I came out as Callie Torres. Granted, we do have the same last name...but me? Callie?!?! No, I refuse. I am nothing like Callie. I don't go gawking after men or give people dirty looks. Cousins, relatives, maybe, but me be her? No.

I re-took the test and came out as Izzie Stevens. Me...Izzie?!?! Am I that annoying? Yes, we got the emotional thing going on, but really? I don't even know how to bake if it doesn't come in a box.

This whole time I categorized myself as a Meredith...guess not. I don't drink, have bad family relationships, sleep a lot or pick up strange men in bars and take them home with me.

Callie, Izzie please take no offense to the fact that I would never want to be you. I'd never marry or fall in love with someone like George (George, please don't be offended by this either). The issues in your life and the way you react to them just drive me crazy.
So me be you? Just doesn't go.

Unfinalized Finale

*SPOILER ALERT! If you haven't seen the Grey's season finale, this blog will give many things away.

Last night I watched the second half of the Grey's Anatomy season finale (season 3) at Janette's house. We would have seen the whole thing but we were at a funeral that had an extensive program.

So...where do I start? Mmmmm, okay...here's what I was thinking the entire time: What?

Questions I have after last night:
What will George do now with his failed exam? Have a baby? Stay with Callie? Leave the medical field?
What is wrong with Derek? Is he serious about Meredith being the one who couldn't commit? Will he end up with Meredith's sister (the woman who offered him a drink at the bar and is a new intern at Seattle Grace)?
And Burke pushed for the wedding day because? Where did he go?
Cristina is free? Good, bad?
Izzie? Why are you, you?
Meredith...it's over? Is that what you really want?

Everyone is alone or miserable.

What is Grey's, a Greek tragedy?

This is definitely one of the most un-final finales I've ever seen.

Am I already waiting for next season?
You bet I am!

Good job producers and writers of Grey's Anatomy...I am more hooked now than ever.

I'm Goin', Goin' Back, Back to Blogging, Blogging

This is officially the new beginning of my passion for blogging.

I know it's been an off and on relationship for the past couple of weeks...but I am back.

Just thought you'd want to know!

My busy, busy life: Fuse

I promised, a while ago, that I would post a series of posts about what I did the week I had little to no posting...here's where that promise begins to be fulfilled!

Fuse: Almost two weeks ago

The focus of that night was having a heart for the city of Cudahy, being a proactive believer, sharing Christ with our friends and not giving up on the place where God has called our church to be.
It was powerful.
There were moments when I thought God, why does all of this happen? Let students be changed. Let them be different after tonight. This city needs us. We can't just act as though all is fine.

We prayed for many students...they were all on their knees. Many of them were broken and I know that they felt encouraged and challenged. I just pray that it wouldn't stay at that...that their brokenness would lead to an utter dependence upon God and that the conviction they felt that night would move them to make a difference.

Here are some goofy pics of things that happened after Fuse was over.

Joel--mastering the rubiks cube.

Gus--thinking he knew more than Joel.

Joel--did it!

Joel and Sam--winners for best hair that night!

Janette and I--loving each other.Baby Nathanael--first time we got to meet!

Kind-Of Road Trip

Tomorrow morning Janette, Angie, Bibi and I head out to Perris Lake.
We're visiting and seeing if it would be a good candidate for this year's Annual Camp.
From what I saw on the net and heard from the guy I spoke with...I think it will be perfect, but we still need to double check.

So what happens when you have to go out somewhere and visit a site? You invite a group of the funnest girls you've ever met.

Although this isn't officially a road trip (Perris Lake is only an hour and a half away) it should at least take half the day to get there, visit, talk to the rep and come back.

I'm excited to see the girls and hang out. It's times like this when I really love my job:)

For the first time in my life...

I don't feel like blogging.
Which is probably why I've been lagging it with my blogging about my past two weeks.

It seems that lately, other things take priority before blogging does.
*work
*friends
*IM-ing
*work
*meetings
*teaching
*work

Sorry about this guys.

Promise I'll be back to my nonstop blogging days soon.

My busy, busy life

As I've posted before, last week was crazy for me so I decided to post about my past adventures and jam packed life.

Hence a group of posts dedicated to all of my activities in the past two weeks.

I hope you enjoy!

Picture of the Week Vol. 5

This is what I see whenever I come in to the office and chat online with Howard (who happens to be in China).

This picture makes me happy because it is one of the ways that I get to communicate with Howard while he's gone.

Now that he got a phone line and is working days I get to talk to him at night before I go to bed.
Geez, if I were an outsider I'd think this Howard and I had a thing going on.

I Couldn't Wait: Weekly Prayer #15

Forgiveness.

why?

how?

me?

You?

love.

Thank you.

Post-less Week

This has been a strange week.

One of those week's when you're super busy, but then when you look back you think to yourself, "What the heck did I do all week?".

Yes, this has been my week. Which would explain why I haven't posted. I know many of you can't wait to read about my busy/unproductive week so I promise that tomorrow I will have many exciting posts for you to enjoy...including:

*Weekly Prayer
*Picture of the Week
*My weekend (in pictures)
*My life as a to do list

BTW, thank you for your patience.