Part 2

The story continues...

At Starbucks, Jason and Jess somehow ended up at their own table in the corner, discussing the pickling process and sheepdog training over tall double chocolate chip frappuccinos. It wasn't long before Jason could not contain himself - he confessed that he was madly in love with her and that he wanted to eat pickles with her for the rest of his life.

Haha... not really. That would have been really weird.

Ok so nothing really happened at Starbucks. After grabbing a few drinks (Jessica got Jamba Juice from next-door) and spending some time in conversation, the crew decided to retire to Matt and Rebecca's apartment. Jessica doesn't really remember what they did (there must have been something in the juice). But she got some funny pictures.

April turned into an alien halfway through her latte.

Jessica's disgusting cappuccino brownie.

April and Jason listen to some of Jason 2's tunes.

(Jason 2 is hiding behind the tv. See?)

When Matt got home from work a game of Halo began and this time the girls joined in. Jessica thought that they were very nice to let her play because she was not very good at all. Jason didn't seem to mind having her on his team.

Jessica decided to be gracious and leave not long after she racked up her first kill in the game. She meant to slip out without a fuss so the others could continue their game, but when Jason noticed she was leaving he leapt up and shook her hand, telling her it was nice to meet her and he was sure they would see each other again sometime. Jess had not been expecting this but she replied in the affirmative.

It was the very next day, in fact, when Jason did something else unexpected.

Jess and Becca were ready for some cookie-making at Becca's place after an evening of shopping. Jason didn't come up in their conversation so Jess didn't get a chance to tell Becca what had been on her mind... that it might be a good idea to NOT encourage a relationship with Jason (who was now called Jason 2 affectionately, to prevent confusion with April's husband Jason). She didn't worry about it, though, opting instead to make this Thursday night as much like Friday as possible.

Apparently so did everyone else. April arrived while the cookies were in the oven, and next Jason 2. Matt arrived with the usual gang for (you guessed it) a game of Halo. Jessica thought of all the books she could read in the hours these people spent playing Halo.

The girls indulged in a few rambunctious games of Rummy and Nerts, with Jason 2 rounding out the foursome. By one o'clock in the morning all of the boys were shooting at each other, the girls had eaten too many cookies, and Jessica was ready to head home before she butchered her bedtime even further.

Jason stood again when he saw her leaving, and moved towards the door behind her with an "I'll be right back, guys." Jessica expected another handshake, and thought he might watch her from the balcony to make sure she made it safely to her car.

"Thanks for walking me out," she said when the apartment door closed behind them.

"Oh, no problem."

And he started down the stairs behind her.

Uh-oh.

Jessica hoped he didn't plan to throw her on the back of his motorcycle and try to woo her with a high-speed race down highway 6 in the middle of the night.

One of them tossed a trivial conversation piece into the air, she couldn't remember who. She expected their interaction to last only as long as it took for her to reach her car. But when they had finished with that and stood in the brightly lit parking lot in front of Jessica's car, Jason continued the conversation. They talked about Maryland, where Jessica had lived before her family moved to Texas, which led to a discussion of some of Jason's travels in previous years.

Then Jess watched Jason nervously scuff his toe against the ground and listened quite in shock as he said that he'd like to hang out with her sometime.

He was very nervous. She could tell. She was, too. Was this a normal thing to do after meeting a girl only twice before (thrice, if you counted her cold non-acknowledgement during the Scrabble game)?

So she tried to put them both at ease by explaining she would prefer to spend time together with the rest of the group, and sharing her MySpace page. He seemed content with that and headed back upstairs. She climbed into her car, drove home, and promptly sat down with her journal. This was gonna be worth remembering!

Part 1

Hellooooo all my friends out there in the blogging world!

I hang my head in shame every time I think about my blogs... really I do. Ok sometimes it's more a lowering of the eyes. And sometimes I just kick the thought out of my head so I don't have to deal with the guilt.

Well in all honestly I have missed blogging. But what I miss even more is keeping up with everybody and getting to hear what's going on in your lives.

But I haven't posted anything since the beginning of the school year 10 weeks ago, and I have some pretty big news to share! A lot of you have heard it already and inquired incredulously as to why I had not given any indication before that this sort of news was in the making. The short answer is that I never imagined things would happen the way they did (just like I never imagined my blog would fester in a puddle of antiquity for months on end). So here at last is the beginning of the story, long overdue. It's quite long and I'll have to post it in segments.

But first the news:
I'm engaged!
And now the story from the beginning.

'Twas a spring break night... the sort of spring break night a good girl would have. Jessica and her friend Rebecca were engaged in a lively game of Scrabble at the living room coffee table in Rebecca's apartment. This was just the sort of entertainment they dreamed of.

The game kept them occupied until after 10 o'clock, when Rebecca's husband Matt got off work and paraded into the house with a troop of friends for a few rounds of some good old-fashioned Halo. The boys were intent on taking over the living room, so Rebecca and Jessica moved their Scrabble game into the dining room. Which was pretty much a different side of the same room. You know how apartments are.

Resuming their game, the girls didn't pay much attention to the brief introductions that were made around the room. Too many unfamiliar faces for one night, so they concentrated on their competitive wordplay and left the boys alone.

One boy, however, was not content to remain on his side of the room. Jessica noticed a lurking presence as she surveyed the Scrabble board, and a voice said "Hey, Scrabble! That's awesome."

Jessica was quite taken by her game, however, and barely looked up enough to reply "Yeah. It's fun." The interloper lingered for a few moments longer, watching the board and attempting to make conversation, before finally giving up on the strange, cool characters at the Scrabble board.

It was a few days later when Jessica, Rebecca, and their friend April were seated in Rebecca's living room and suddenly, the matchmaking began.

"What's the oldest a guy could be that you would consider dating?" April prodded. She and Becca, the two married women of the group, exchanged a glance. Jess replied that she really didn't know... maybe 24 or 25. WHY?
"Oh," Becca said. "Never mind I guess."
"Wellcausetheresthisguyjasonandhesreallycoolandyouguyshavealotincommon," April explained.
"Ha ha. How old is he?"
"I think he's 26," said Becca.
"No, I think he said he's 27."

Jessica's eyes opened wide and she shook her head. It was only March - he would probably be turning 28 later this year. She was just turning 19. No. WAY.

"We told him about you, too."
(Jessica marveled at the genius of her friends.)
"Well you guys can at least meet. Who knows? You might hate each other," Becca went on.
"Yeah whatever!"
And that was that. For then.

The spring semester resumed and it was back to life as usual, which included church night on Tuesday for a Spurgeon sermon. Jess and Becca, members of the same church, attended regularly, and on this particular Tuesday night Rebecca divulged a tidbit of news to Jessica.

"Jason might be here tonight."

Jessica tried not to think about it. Darn matchmakers forever and ever. She hoped fiercely that someone with children would show up so that she could spend the evening in the nursery (as the resident "nursery lady" at church) instead of sitting in the same room with a man almost ten years older than her who probably already wanted to marry her for all she knew.

She was waiting anxiously in the foyer with Rebecca, just a few minutes before the service was scheduled to start, when a motorcycle rumbled into the church parking lot.

Rebecca smiled. Big. Too big. "There's Jason!"

But to Jessica's relief, a young family arrived and she was granted her stay in the nursery. She managed to avoid meeting Jason completely, occupying herself with her young charge as he entered the church building and ignoring Rebecca when she poked her head in and motioned for her to come say hello to the stranger. The service finally started and Jessica had avoided an awkward introduction. Yessss!

Of course, it was only put off until the service ended. No way to avoid it now. So Jess cleaned up the nursery and entered the sanctuary, where Rebecca and Jason were conversing with Becca's in-laws. She waited until they finished and took the plunge.

"Hi, I'm Jessica, but you probably knew that." She extended her hand and he took it.

"Oh yeah... I think we met the other night. You were playing Scrabble, right?"

Ah, the irony. She hadn't recognized her Scrabble lurker, but apparently here he was. Eeep.

Jason was drawn into another conversation with someone else so Becca and Jess headed outside to discuss plans for the rest of the evening.

"Ok, be honest. Would you mind if I invited Jason to come with us to Starbucks, since April and Jason will be there too?"

Jess told her it would be fine. Ok, she was quite happy Becca suggested it. She definitely wanted to leave Jason with a better impression of her than he'd gathered at their first meeting.

So the three of them, each driving (or riding on) separate vehicles, traipsed to Starbucks where April and Jason met them.

I must end part 1 here... I was planning to post the whole thing at once but I'm quite the sluggard when it comes to getting this thing written (obviously) and I wouldn't want to serve you some lukewarm concoction when I can dish out the whole story with all the delicious details!

And so I leave you here in suspense. Mwahahaha.

It's too early for this!

Here I am, posting before I run out the door! :D Woohoo! It's a full day of work and then my first on-campus classes and then back to work, but it'll be great because God is good. K bye.

Hewwo

*timid wave* Just a li'l post because my blog has been deader than any spider that ends up in my room. And it's been like that for quite some time. Jessica vows to post at least once more before school begins!

It's Meeee

A year ago I was on a plane back from Maryland, killing my hand. (I wrote for almost the entire flight - two and a half hours. Ouch.) My doodness!

Well I've been out of school for two weeks and have been quite busy being a lazy bum. When I'm not working, that is. I've got two regular babysitting jobs for the summer (praise God!) - one for a family that just welcomed twins into the world on Monday. :)

It's probably apparent that I've been quite behind on everything, and that includes reading, so my quixotic goal for this summer is to read 50 books. (No recommendations needed, thanks. I've got enough for 3 summers.)

And as far as exciting summer plans go, I'll get to meet some old friends for the first time! Bwahaha. I've met some amazing people online and I'm excited to finally get to see 'em face to face. My friend Sarah is planning to drive down to stay a weekend early next month, and then Siara's gonna fly in for a week in July. *is super excited*

With that, I leave you to go babysit. Have a quiet time today! Yes indeed.

Cookies, and the Reasons We Eat Them

Spanish Version
(As always, corrections are welcome.)

Bueno, no sé donde he estado, pero realicé la otra día que no hay TRES semanas de escuela como pensaba. Solamente dos. Y este significa que tengo solamente uno fin de semana para preparar mi tonta presentación de español...

Tengo nuestro prueba sobre la última capítulo del libro de texto mañana, y por eso hoy acabé del libro de trabajo y lab manual en la Red. Después, me trajo al principio - "Ante Todo" - las primeras cosas que hicimos en la clase de español. ¡Hace dos años! ¿Realmente hace dos años? Me sorprende todo que hemos aprendido, pero todavía hay tanto a aprender. ¡Tiempo de immersión!

English Version

Well, I don't know where I've been but I realized the other day that there are NOT three weeks of school left like I thought. Only two. Which means I only have one weekend to put together my silly spanish presentation. (In this context, silly means time-consuming and unexciting.)

Tomorrow we have our test over the last chapter of the Spanish textbook so today I finished the online workbook and lab manual. After I submitted the last assignment it took me back to "Ante Todo" - the very first stuff we ever did in Spanish class. Two years ago! Has it really been two years?? I'm pretty amazed with all the stuff we've learned since then but there is so much to learn, still. Immersion time!!

Exclusive English Content

Man, I have had this massive sweet tooth lately. Every night I feel like I could eat 57 cookies - it's really bad. (And I wonder why I have cavities.) But I'm also feeling this sweet tooth for God, which is pretty cool. Especially because a sweet tooth is never satisfied! I love how the more you get of God, the more you want, so I'm hoping this craving will turn into some really good habits. Go get you some spiritual cookies, people!

"How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!" (Psalm 119:103)

Potatoes

My mom was making dinner the other night when she discovered a monster in the pantry. Apparantly it had eaten 72 potatoes. The one on the left was spared.



And because you can never have enough...

Everybody to the Limit

Hello friends!

Good gravy, it's always someone. This is for my cuz Mariah, who is like, super-blogger-woman even though she has two kids. She's a great role model and I totally aspire to be like her. *tear*

I almost had three exams fall on the same day again this week but my algebra teacher moved his, thank God. This is why I have been so noticeably absent. (Mariah noticed, anyway.)

Despite all the studying, I did manage to have two fantastic nights this week. Last night Rebecca and I made a Chilis run and then shopped for dresses. (She found a purty one for Easter... ooo!) Went to lemonade for some Chick-Fil-A. ;) Made some chocolate chip cookies and then the crew came over and partiness ensued. We played some Nerts and some Scrabble and then I brought myself home for a snooze.

Oh yes, I noticed that I never posted the link for the "...So, Don't Be Anxious" sermon I mentioned twenty years ago. But I still heartily recommend it - you can check it out here. Go listen! Go!

It's been a while since I've talked about job stuff too. I never heard from the Christian bookstore and I decided not to really pursue anything else, but I did just hear from a lady who's interested in having me watch her little girl two days a week. I'm going to try that Monday. :)

I'm off to hit the books, but I must say thanks to Rebecca and Matt for making every night feel like spring break! Everybody have a good weekend and eat yummy things.

Winter Wonderland, Take 2

It was hard to believe a whole year had passed and it was time for another Winter Wonderland concert, but we were very excited to be blessed with free tickets to see Point of Grace once again. The show on Sunday, December 10th was amazing - and even though we were sitting way in the back, POG put on a stirring show. (Big thanks to my mom for sitting next to the woman-with-no-sense-of-personal-space.)

Here are (blurry) POG and Scott Krippayne

Just look at that church

Kgirl and me after the show

And now, POG sings part of "In the First Light." Well they actually sang the whole thing, I just got this part of it. This song is amazing live, but I get goosebumps just listening to it on the CD. Wow.

Ancient History

As historians have studied human history, they have discovered a particular family of prominence. Many eons ago, in November of 2006, they welcome a special guest into their home for Thanksgiving.

Señor Pancho Don Quixote Hidalgo

He was heartily welcomed by all except the well known Señorita Margarita (means Daisy in Spanish, y'all). She did her best to avoid the newcomer and refused to allow him the briefest smell of her... lavish perfume.



I hope you paid attention. There will be a quiz tomorrow.

Thank God For...

Giddiness!!
Today finds me having a bout with giddy-itis. It's SPRING!
Sunny, warm, open windows, breezes, blue skies, grassy hills, Maria von Trapp...

See? See? I am SO glad I'm not in school, where they stick thin windows high up near the ceiling, or cover the windows with thick grey blinds, or forget to put in any windows at all. Where I'd be stuck sitting in a classroom, listening to lectures, instead of... um, sitting in my room, blogging.

I only had one day of school this week because of a conference day tomorrow, so it's like practice for Spring Break. :) It's a great day for doing laundry and reading blogs and running errands and taking a walk.
Come join me?

Yes, I'll Make You a Burger.

Choose a Ninja Burger Career at the Ninja Burger website.

Strawberry Tea

Just updating because there have been complaints. I won't mention any names, but apparently Bethany has no sympathy for poor overworked college students! I hope you get accepted and take that full load, dork!

This is a bad bad bad week, with three exams on one day, so I dare not dally when I should be reading. My regrets, as usual. If I'm not out party-hardying (in my room) come this weekend, I may be able to post some fun pictures. Grand!

Stop parenting that kid!

You hear me? (Scary news here.) Of course I don't advocate beating children. But I would imagine that parents responsible enough to spank their children are responsible enough to do it in love, or at least for their kid's good, instead of beating in anger. That's already a crime. It's called child abuse.

Naughty, Naughty

My apologies, readers. I must watch what I say.
This morning I woke up to find my left earring halfway across the room. :P Which isn't really that far but I am sufficiently rebuked, and resolve to treat my Left Ear with increased respect.
Is it weird that I wore two pairs of socks today? I haven't done that in four years. But today's weather called for it. Indeed.

Disfunctional Listening Devices

Bad News
I have a problem! My favoritest headphones are being held together with duct tape, and now the left speaker only works when you hold the cord just right. And the two cheap pairs of headphones that I've bought won't work with my computer. Must I spend $20 on headphones just so I can use them with my computer? You headphone specialists out there... what am I missing? :( Anybody up for doing some headphone repairs? (My hair gets stuck in the duct tape sometimes.)

Good news
While I didn't get everything on my list done over Christmas break, I feel relatively accomplished. My inbox is down to 25 e-mails for the first time since, oh, maybe last September? Today I deleted 500 files and zipped others. And I found the piece of furniture that will do my room a world of good... but it wasn't in stock at Wal-Mart. Drat.

Bad news
School starts Tuesday

Good news
I finished algebra and went to the dentist. It was almost an emergency appointment 'cause my tooth was hurting and I thought I could see a crack in it. Turns out my teeth just have funky ridges, and it's my wisdom teeth that have been causing these headaches. :P I did get fillings that have been needed since last year. It wasn't too bad 'cause the doc's real nice. She offered to let me use her iPod, and talked about how cute the oral surgeon she's referring me to is. (Don't worry mom. I'll be on the gas [read: incoherent].)

Bad news
My left ear doesn't seem to like getting earrings stuck in it. :P

Good news
This entry is over.

Manila Envelopes

Can you taste it? I am so close to the end of this algebra stuff. One half of the final exam left. Not like I really have to take the final exam but I think it will help.

Tomorrow I have to get a filling. I could complain about how weak my teeth are despite my diligence in caring for them, and rant about how I'm sick of worrying about my mouth, but... hrm, I just did.

Called the Christian bookstore today - sounds like they are going to be hiring a bit later than they thought. So I can either wait till the end of this month to hear from them or pursue another job now.

I changed my earrings yesterday - that was exciting! Took me about 20 minutes to do my left ear, but I got to wear my neat new hoops. Once I get some camera software working I should have picka-churs.

I also want to thank Rebecca for putting up with me past midnight last night. ;) After a wonderful meeting at the CareNet pregnancy center for our church's ladies ministry, I tagged along with Becca and... bought something fun.

That's about it for now, folks. The Jess factory is getting cranked up to full production these next few days before school starts. We are currently seeking help in the form of lunch or dinner dates, late night hang outs, and salt and vinegar chips.

Do you hear what I hear? A crazed banana!

Just a quick little hello. :) I'm packing in the algebra - 7 video lessons a day, and today I hit the last third of the course which contains a few half-hour lessons (and longer). My last two today were #98 and #99 - those ones kept me at it past dinnertime. Not my favorite way to spend Christmas break, but I'm feeling quite accomplished. It's not so scary this time around (I've only cried once!) and I like feeling that I can get the best of these numbers. Rawr.

Anywho, I've got a job prospect at the Christian bookstore - I should be getting a call any day to set up an interview. I can change my earrings in a week. Today I drank way too much Dr. Pepper for my own good. And I'm training my Nintendog to chase his tail. ('Cause Daisy's just not smart enough.)

In addition: I'm super excited about the possibility of attending New Attitude this year!! If you're in the area and are interested in joining our as-of-yet-nonexistent caravan, don't be shy. It's only 15 hours to Kentucky. We'll have good music.

Blessings for your new year!
Meeee