The Life of Jessica

back to reality

2011-05-09T13:31:00.000-07:00

so, I'm not much of a blogger. but I figured that now that its spring, I'm gonna try to be a little more diligent in blogging.
so, I've been back from my mission about 7 months already! I can't believe it...time is flying. I finished a quick but stressful semester back at BYU as an RA at Helaman halls. I had a great experience with that and was able to pull out with my best semester yet here at BYU! its great being back, but I sure do miss the mission, and everything that entails. I'll be planning a trip back in the near future! :)
I am now living in a new apartment for spring and summer with my awesome friend, Katelin. basically, I'm having a blast! :) yesterday being Mother's day [happy mother's day to my incredible mother!!!] I was able to talk to my cool little brother, Elder Naval. He is doing so great, and has been such a good example for everyone! as for everything else, I spend much of my time running out in this beautiful weather, biking, hanging out with my adorable nieces, Rowan & Harper, and studying studying studying.
my life isn't too interesting right now, just the regular rigors of life :) so thats the latest! (pictures to come!)

i suck at blogging.

2009-02-01T10:54:00.000-08:00

well, im obviously no good at blogging since i haven't blogged since september. BUT here's a quick one to recap on life.

rowan turned 1!
i got my mission call to Argentina! (sorry it's sideways..i dont know how to fix that.)
Tim's home from his mission!
Home in Jersey celebrating Christmas/Tim's homecoming, etc.
Rowan loved philly!
we chopped lots of wood...(well, mainly just justin)
spent time with cousins!
visited the shore, which rowan did not like so much. it was freezing though, so i dont blame her.
Since we were celebrating Christmas late, I spent Christmas with the Tate's. This is me and Rowan Christmas day!
Me and my roommates took some roommate pictures...and had a little fun
this is way back from thanksgiving when I went home to see the fam!

That pretty much sums up the last 5 months! Maybe i'll be REALLY productive and do a blog before I leave on my mission...we'll see.

school started & took over my life. also, im 21.

2008-09-29T14:50:00.000-07:00

i just started my junior year at byu....and i think i finally decided on a major, exercise science. although after taking my first human physiology test this weekend, i may want to reconsider. but for now, i will stay with exercise science. also, i turned 21, had a little birthday bash...and i am now officially legal to do whatever i want. woo hoo...

me and my crazy friends celebrating my 21st.
along with the new school year comes new roomies, here they are.
some cool kids at my party.
some old roomies.
also, new school year = byu football season.

aka=my biggest obsession.

....and i believe this is the game we schooled ucla 49-0....no biggy...

i survived mt. timp!

2008-08-24T19:46:00.001-07:00

yes, i hiked mt. timpanogas. a huge group of my o.g. friends left around 2 am to head up the canyon. i had heard it was tough, and since i had only ever hiked the Y, naturally i was scared and a bit intimidated. we started at a quick pace...and i didn't think i would make it at that pace.

our goal was to make it by sunrise and it is about a 5-6 hour hike, but we kept at a good pace & we made it!!! = ]

1st break of the morning!
marcelo & amanda
me & amanda
the crew!
nap time for the boys...i was wayyy too cold to be able to fall asleep.
almost to the top...
look at that view!!
it was incredible....and well worth the work to get there!
christy, me, and amanda!

still snow in august!

WE DID IT!! this is at the tippy top!
so happy i made it.
this is what we had to climb through.
coming back down around 9-10 am.
stoppin at the shack.
we got in the waterfall on the way down to cool off. it was incredible!

charmaine & barry's wedding

2008-08-16T21:45:00.001-07:00

my friends, charmaine and barry, were married on August 8th 2008 at the Salt Lake City temple. they met at the olive garden over a year ago and are now married. whitney and i had the opportunity to go up and see them...they looked fabulous and it was a great day! = ]

...this whole meeting at the o.g. then getting married a year later is starting to become a trend...i dont know how i feel about it = ]

the beautiful bride!
the handsome groom!
me and charmaine! = ]

fun with the fam

2008-07-30T21:21:00.000-07:00

last week was my family reunion! it was ALOT of fun and we took LOTS of pictures! = ]

my crazy family!
me, mike & rob with lily, emma, & kate!
crazy kids!
we loooove shout about movies!
with the cousins outside the humanitarian center.
the great wall of clothing!

cousins!
more cousins in park city!
me & mj!.....twins?!
me and the kids at the pool!
workin on our volleball skills!

hello temecula

2008-06-21T16:25:00.001-07:00

Liz's aunt put on a tri-athalon. Me and Liz were a team & split it up. Kenz was on his own and ended up winning 1st place!

Liz sportin' her #. They had to write on us so it wouldn't get washed off in the pool.

(sorry its sideways-i dont know how to change it)

Me sportin' my #...again, sorry its sideways.

Me and Kenz, before it began.

Me and Liz before the events began. I dont know why she looks all nervous...I'm the one who ran the 1 mile.
Me and Kenz at the start line.

At the end when everyone finished, they had a little award ceremony. It turned out that I was one of the oldest racers. I thought it was older people...turns out it was mainly for kids.

This was the cutest little boy. He was 4 years old & he did the whole thing by himself. He ran the 1 mile race, biked for 2 miles, and did a 4 lap swim! I couldn't believe it! I only did the 1 mile race and I thought I was going to die. And he's only 4!

goodbye provo

2008-06-21T16:12:00.001-07:00

My roommates took me out to dinner for my last night in Provo. The OG crew took me out the night before that. It was good being able to see everyone before I left! I love my friends! = ]

Charmaine and Whitney took me to the airport. We stopped at Denny's for breakfast on the way!
I love these girls!

hahahahahahah

My roommates and I went out to Brickoven for my last night in Provo.

It was delicious!

Whitney put together a little 'going away' dinner at applebees with pretty much the whole OG crew! It was great!

Me and Christian!

Me and the twinners!

Me and David B!

Me and Loren!

a quick look at spring semester '08

2008-06-21T15:50:00.000-07:00

Spring semester has been alot of fun! Here is an overview of what I've been up to the last couple months while livin at the glenwood! = ]

FHE dinner activity. = ]

We threw Amanda a birthday party for her 20th! It was a success!

Amanda and I after her birthday breakfast.

Our ward went to Utah Lake to ride canoes.

Ana, me, and Amanda were having a little too much fun!

Us during sunset waiting for the other canoes to get in.

Amanda & Marianne before our FHE dinner.

Me and Kadi grabbin lunch at Cafe Rio.

Me and Kadi at Pudding on the Rice.

Me and my roommates after church, my last Sunday before CA.

Amanda, Marci, and Ana being crazy!

The girls having a pillowfight. They are wild.

California Trip, part 2 + St. George

2008-06-21T15:35:00.000-07:00

After my Temecula trip to visit Liz, I spent a few days at Christian's house in Lake Arrowhead, right by San Bernadino. On the drive back to Provo, we stayed a few days at Whitney's house in St. George. We did a bunch of exciting things throughout the week:

Me, Christian & Whitney went and saw the latest Indiana Jones movie. Afterwards we went to Chili's for dinner.

We visited Christian's grandma in Mission Viejo, CA. Then we went to the fashion district in L.A.

We were in the car for a loooong time....and I got bored, obviously.

On the way home from CA, we stopped & stayed in St. George with Whitney's family. We climbed the red cliffs. This is overlooking St. George.

We had a bonfire with a bunch of Whitney's friends. Jeff from work came too! It was fun.

fun times in temecula

2008-06-17T14:06:00.000-07:00

So I forgot to post pictures when I got back from my trip, but my mother made sure to remind me. So I will recap on california trip #1:

Liz's brother, Kenz, turned 16 while I was in town. So we got chinese food and saw Narnia-Prince Caspian. This was after our exciting day!
We went to the beach and got to see the sunset. It was beautiful. The water was pretty cold, but we still had a good time.

Liz and I went to see Wicked at the Pantages Theater in Hollywood. This was inside the theater...soon after taking this picture, a guy came over and reprimanded us for taking pictures in a no picture taking area. oops!

california lovin

2008-05-18T22:36:00.000-07:00

i flew down to california on thursday to visit my dearest friend liz. its been way fun! we went to wicked the night i got in, visited her aunt in laguna the next day, and spent the day at the beach yesterday. its been pretty exciting. tomorrow we are either going to disneyland or san diego. either way, it'll be tons of fun! on wednesday, i meet up with my friends whitney & christian from work, and the following 5 days i will be spending in san bernadino with them and driving back and stopping in vegas and st. george before heading home. i know, quite the extensive vacation for me, but its back to work the day i get back.

well, ill add more details & pictures once i get back to p-town.

rowan & mother's day

2008-05-11T20:16:00.000-07:00

i babysat rowan a few times this past week. she sure is something else. luckily, i've gotten quite a few laughs and smiles(and captured them), and of course some cries for mom, but i love babysitting her. she is sportin' her new shirt from me! (the multicolored one)

and today is mother's day, so i spent the evening with the tate's and had a great time. i would've gladly spent it with my mother in new jersey, but alas i was stuck in provo working at the beloved olive garden. but i hope you had a great mother's day, mom! love ya! = ]

change of pace, or so i thought...

2008-05-04T23:31:00.000-07:00

Me & Julia working oh so hard at the BYU HS Invitational Track meet. Ok, we really did work hard...we were just on our lunch break.

Some of my fellow o.g. friends @ Bryson & Jaclyn's wedding reception!

My old/new roommates, Amanda & Kadi.

Alot of change has taken place the past couple weeks. Life was a little hectic, to say the least. With moving from one apartment to the next, (while being "homeless" for 3 days & partially living out of my car-thank you tates for letting me crash at your place!) and also being scheduled crazy amounts of work at the o.g. & training for a new position as a "To Go Specialist" as they like to call it. I thought this past week would calm down since I'm not taking any spring classes & only working, but alas, I was still super busy with long hours at work, working all day outside at the BYU HS Invitational Track meet (my face consequently looks like a tomato), babysitting my girl Rowan, attending a wonderful wedding reception, & getting adjusted in a new ward and a new apartment. But I survived another crazy week and am ready to take on a new one! I am now reunited with my roommates from freshmen year, and today we had the opportunity to attend a fireside where Elder Nelson spoke & also got to meet some new friends from my new apartment complex. So it was a nice, relaxing end of a crazy week! At first, all this change made me want to go home. I was a little depressed that everyone was leaving and I was staying in Provo. But I am getting adjusted to everything & am realizing that change isn't so bad after all. I have a lot of things to look forward to this spring & summer! = ]

Blog Newby

2008-04-22T22:12:00.000-07:00

Well, I finish up my second year of college tomorrow morning. Since I'll have plenty of free time to mess around, I figured I'd check out this blog thing. I've seen a lot of my friends' blogs, and I have no idea how they all turned out so great--I can't even figure out how to do a single thing. So this is as good as it gets for now. Hopefully next time, I'll figure out how to make it look decent and maybe even a little creative.