My Mother The Hulk

In my family, we all give each other nicknames.

They are random but make us laugh because we choose them from a particular incident or moment in time we all shared.

For example:
A while back my mom was washing dishes and as she picked up a plate it broke, in her hands, with little to no force placed on it.

She told us about it and my sister and I called her the Incredible Hulk, saying she is so strong that she doesn't even know her own strength (does that make sense?).

Yesterday and today, that theory was proven in real life.

My mom underwent surgery and she kicked MAJOR A**.

She's got pain and suffering but is taking it like a champ! I am so proud of her and love her too!

My mom IS the Incredible Hulk!

Thank You Notes Continued...

I got some more cool stuff after my last post:

-$25
-lunch at Applebee's

AND, I'm done with over half of my thank you notes :)

If you haven't gotten yours yet...wait for it!

Birthday Dinner

My family took me out to dinner on my birthday. We ALL went (Mom, Dad, Marlen, Don, Lillian, Alora, Jeremy and baby Don). We went to Peking Wok in Cerritos.

As usual, we had such a fun time!

As my parents and I walked into the restaurant and approached the table where Marlen, Don and the kids were seated I heard little voices screaming "Happy Birthday Jessica!". Hugs and kisses followed immediately.

Once I sat down I told my sister and Don, "I am so glad you had kids". They brighten everything up!

We ordered a little bit of everything and opened amazing presents while waiting for our food to arrive (my family knows me so well...the presents they got me proved it).

At the end of dinner it was cake time. The waitress told us that the restaurant provided a banana cake-type dessert for birthday party-type dinners. We said we'd take it in addition to the cake that my family had brought.

Note: at the beginning of dinner we noticed we were seated right below a disco ball...why a Chinese food restaurant would have a disco ball is a mystery to me. My question would be answered shortly thereafter.

As the waitress and two other waiters came out the lights came on...they turned on the lighting and spinning disco ball! Everyone sang Happy Birthday and we cut the cake. I couldn't get over the fact that there was a disco ball at my birthday dinner! By the way, the banana dessert was AMAZING!

After that, the kids and I did a little disco dancing under the cool lighting and opened up fortune cookies.

I've got pictures too...they will be posted soon!

Thank You Notes

Yesterday was my birthday.

I find myself in need of writing some thank you notes to all of the sweeties that gave me gifts and went out of their way to make my day so, so special.

Here's what I got:

- Kayaking
- Yahtzee
- Monopoly
- US weekly subscription
- $50
- Personalized mug
- Flowers
- Paper weight
- Purse
- Blouse
- Devotional
- 2 Dinners out to 2 different Chinese food restaurants
- Movie
- Special home-cooked meal
- 2 cakes

I wasn't expecting it all...but it made me feel so special!

New Music

I just bought this Cd compilation last week.

It's Chris Tomlin's "Not to Us" and "The Noise We Make" Cds.

I've been listening to the "Not to Us" Cd non-stop for the past 5 days.

I can't help but feel so inspired and encouraged to humble myself before God when listening to Chris' lyrics.

"the earth is shaking
the mountains shouting
it's all for YOU
the waves are crashing
the sun is raging
it's all for YOU"

"What a wonderful Maker
What a wonderful Savior
How majestic Your whispers
And how humble Your love
With a strength like no other
And the heart of a Father
How majestic Your whispers
What a wonderful God"

So sweet!

Traditions

My best friends and I have a tradition: we do something new and totally different (go to a new place, a different restaurant, somewhere most of us have never been before or something most of us have never done before) for each one of our birthdays.

I love this tradition because it's sacred.

We all plan ahead and make sure we are all there. We make it a HUGE priority to be together. We stopped giving each other gifts and now give each other each other's presence...it really is great!

Since Tuesday is my birthday we celebrated my 24th yesterday.

We went kayaking and then to dinner at Panda Inn...which I absolutely LOVE!

It was tons of fun...a little gross (the water), but so cool.

And we only had one man go overboard: Howard. Hearing Edgar scream, "Man overboard, man overboard" off in the distance will always be one of the funniest things I've ever heard.

Here are some pictures:

After dinner we all headed back home.

Damaris' tire popped...

a fun and exciting birthday celebration!

I Turn 24 Tomorrow

So I thought I'd list 24 things that I'd like to have (this list might not be realistic...but bear with me):

#1 Peace-about oh so many things in my life right now.
#2 Laptop
#3 Financial Stability
#4 A new Haircut
#5 Vacation
#6 iPod
#7 Concert tickets to aforementioned artists shows.
#8 A shopping spree
#9 Premium Pass to Disneyland
#10 Flat screen TV
#11 New Luggage
#12 Roxy Bedspread
#13 Rain resistant shoes
#14 Nicer car
#15 A better attitude
#16 Wisdom
#17 Patience
#18 New sneakers
#19 Moldable spirit
#20 Time
#21 My mom to be healthy
#22 Cell phone
#23 A meal at the Olive Garden
#24 A college degree

**Note: These are in no particular order...so please don't judge me based on my listing abilities.

What do YOU want?

Happy Birthday Dad!

Today's my dad's birthday!

We celebrated yesterday and had an amazing time! A party with about 50 of our friends and family.

I love you dad!

Happy 50th!

Another Reason Why September Rocks!

On a previous post I mentioned that September was great, not only because of my birthday, but because of really fun things happening in pop culture this month.

Well, here is one more of those cool things...David Crowder Band releases their new album "Remedy" on September 25th...my birthday!

They are also coming to The House of Blues at Downtown Disney this October...

so if you haven't figured out what to get me for my birthday, this broadens the options.

The Gathering

I got back yesterday afternoon from The Gathering, held at Saddleback Church.

It was a great couple of days spent with amazing men and women who lead youth all over the United States, while living out God's purposes in their ministries.

Truth be told, besides the pastors wives, there were only two women youth workers (including me) who were there, in comparison to about 30-35 men. It was fun though...the guys were really encouraging and SO fun to be around.

My roommate was Deborah, from Virginia, and she was/is INCREDIBLE. I learned so much from her and was really excited to learn from her and listen to her heart.

Here are some highlights:
-getting to see Chris :)
-eating at Wahoo's for the first time!
-rooming with Deb.
-laughing so hard at Josh forgetting his band-aids.
-shopping at H & M.
-laughing with Neely about her "drinking and smoking cigars".
-talking with and being encouraged by so many amazing youth workers.
-"hearing" God say Thank You.
-making new friends.

It was a great week!

We Went, We Ate, We Conquered

All you can eat at Dodger Stadium was AMAZING.

Here are the pictures:

Here are boys...eating their, what seemed like, hundreth hot dog.

I sucked and ate my first two dogs so fast that I had major stomach cramps throughout the game...I did have three drinks, popcorn, peanuts and nachos too.

Plus, the Dodgers seriously won...good night.

A New Title

I've just changed my blog title to 'Be Tangedy...'.

This title was derived from my time at the Student Leadership Conference and from the new word that German and I created earlier in the year: Tangedy.

If you aren't sure of what it means, comment and I'll let you know!

Concert Wishlist

Here's a list or people I've been wanting to go see in concert:

* George Lopez
* Switchfoot
* Michael Buble
* David Crowder Band
* Hillsong United

Most of them don't come to the LA area for months....

a girl can wish though.

Look Who's Walking...

and doing his own stunts...

eating a tortilla at my house is considered a stunt.

The Dodgers

Here's where I hope to be on Thursday night:
I also hope to be partaking of the All-you-can-eat-pavilion.

Only $25 pre-sale for these seats and unlimited Dodger dogs, nachos, peanuts, popcorn, Coca-Cola products and Water.

Yum!

Good September

Not only is September the month of my birthday but it is also the month that Grey's Anatomy premiers its' fourth season!

September 27th...I'm SO there!

Here's the best part...September is also the month that season 3 gets released on DVD...

tomorrow!

September...you are good!

Side Note: I am seriously considering the purchase of a "Seriously." t-shirt to wear on the night of the premiere.

My Birthday

It's only sixteen days away.

I will be officially 24!

I've always considered 25 the age of adulthood...so I'm well on my way to being, or at least trying to be a grown up.

I usually get really amped for my birthday and try my best to make a celebration out of the whole week. This year feels different, I'm not that excited...

Maybe something in the next sixteen days will change my mind...

I hope so.

iHop-e to be like Howard

Last night after church Howard, his co-worker Nelda and I went to iHop for a quick late night snack.

We ordered three dishes to share: Some cheese blintzes, an appetizer sampler and a crispy banana caramel cheesecake. Howard didn't let me order a coke (because he's such a good friend) so we all got raspberry iced teas.

We talked and laughed so much!

It was one of those conversations that's fun but also insightful...like you feel that everyone in the conversation said their piece.

It was nice spending time with Nelda...I hadn't seen her since before she got married last December. I felt like she really enjoyed it too.

After we left the restaurant and said goodbye to Nelda, Howard and I stood in the parking lot for a while. We talked about the church, my job, and the frustrations of life.
Howard did nothing but listen...and at the end all he said was, "I'm sure God knows".

I love the fact that Howard didn't try to give me a solution, false hope or even judge the situations I vented about. He just listened.

I want to be more like that.

I talk too much, try to help people see a way out, try to offer hope. Many times all you need is someone to listen, nod in response to your feelings, smile at you, make you feel like they are with you. Sometimes there are no words. Only friends.

Some Summer Sights

Here are some pictures that pretty much sum up the second half of my summer. I didn't blog about these things, but they were such a great way to end such a fun and challenging summer.

Summer Camp

Del Coronado Hotel

San Diego Zoo

Senior Farewell

Simudate*

*a play on words-simulate and date combined.

On Sunday night I went out to spend some time with my friend Jason.

I've known Jason for about 5 years but really known Jason for about 2.

Here's how it went:
Jason picked me up at my house at around 8:30pm (the time the movie we planned to watch began), so we made a switch of movie theaters and went to a closer one where "The Nanny Diaries" was playing at 9:45pm.

Because we had some extra time we decided to go to Chipotle for burritos. I had a vegetarian (not so much-as I added pinto beans which are cooked with bacon) burrito with tortilla chips, salsa and water, while Jason got an apple juice and bottle of water. We chatted, laughed, caught up and then headed off for the movie.

We saw the 2 hour movie which could have clearly told the story in 30 minutes...laughed a bit, but mostly chatted through the annoying parts.

After that, we made our way to the Starbucks drive-thru, only to be told it was closed. So Denny's was the next stop. I had a strawberry milkshake and Jason had a root beer float. We laughed and made fun a bit more and then I got dropped off...right before 1am.

Sounds normal, right? Not so much.
A) I haven't gotten "picked up" to go out in YEARS. It felt so strange.

B) Jason actually got out of the car when he came to my house...full on wanted to greet me and open the car door to let me in. Because I am the way I am, I ran to the car and left him hanging...AWKWARD (in Lo's voice...Hills fans know what I mean).

C) Jason would not let me pay for anything.

D) Chivalry was alive and well...he completely pulled out all the stops with opening doors, letting me go in first, making way for me the whole night.

E) There was definite flirtation happening. Giggles, touches on the knee, complements, foolish jokes. Weird.

F) It was a three parter (as my brother in law likes to call it). Dinner, movie and snack.

The entire night felt like a date.
Not because I like Jason, (don't get me wrong...he's cute, but I'd kill him if we ever dated) but because I was so not used to a guy doing all the guy stuff that guys do: chivalry, paying for everything, fun flirtation, etc.

Because it made me uncomfortable to be around such a gentleman I did things like: talk about how every time I go to Denny's I get bad stomach problems, talk about other guys and how cute they are, insult my "date" (in a playful way), say the word crap and vomit at least 5 times, make him ask for our "Nannie" tickets, laughed at him after he asked for our "Nannie" tickets.

Point being, this was not a date but because of how awkward I felt in a date-like situation it has clearly shown me that I am in no way, shape or form ready to date.

All this to say, I always thought I was a good "dater" or worth dating. Now I'm thinking...not so much!

Many thoughts...all at once

I just came back into the office after a few days off.

I've done, seemingly, random things like: go to several BBQ's, shopped for a swimming pool, hung out with my family, hung out with a cool/old friend, had lunch with an amazing friend, broken off a friendship, initiated someone into the Disney family, re-considered an immediate move to Florida.

So much has occured that...I feel like the past four days could have happened over the course of a month or even months.

So much movement has caused my mind to go into overdrive (I don't think I've ever used that word before...I like it almost as much as livid).

Here are some of the topics that have crossed my mind:
-where have my marital standards gone?
-what have I trully accomplished in the past four years?
-am I better or different because of the things I've experienced as a minister?
-am I the one that holds myself back from what I want to achieve?
-is it wrong to dream as you get older?
-I don't want to be a child anymore.
-I'm not who I thought I would be at 23.
-I'm about to be 24...that thought brings me frustration, not joy.
-am I cut out for full-time ministry?
-do I have high expectations or low ones?
-I'm not ready for Jesus to come for me.

What's on your mind?

Summer is unofficially over

Well...everyone is back in school...back to work...back to real life.

The fun of having nothing to do, tons of friends to call at any moments' notice and loads of pool time is gone.

Although summer is still going on (season-wise) all of the things that make summer seem to be over for the year.

It was an amazing one though!