Dallas- Sports Edition

On Sunday we hit up a couple sports stadiums, starting with the Dallas Cowboy's stadium. While none of us are fans, the stadium was quite the sight to behold!

 I took the combative press approach.

 Imagine meeting us on the field!

 Our best attempt at the Heisman trophy pose.

 Then we went across the way to a Texas Rangers vs Huston Astros baseball game. It was hot but there was a perk to getting the $7 tickets...we were second from the back with a breeze! (Sort of. It was still hot.)

 Keeping up with tradition, I took my knitting and made great progress on Luke's Oregon Ducks scarf!

They gave away bears to kids 13 and under. Val, a lover of soft stuffed animals, was green with envy! Especially of this little guy in front of us who was playing with not only his, but all of his siblings' bears! 

 She just about melted when they did a bear dance and all the kids were waving around their bears and dancing with them! Matt came to her rescue and procured a bear for her. (Shhhh. It's a secret!)

 This is my last post from our quick Dallas trip. It allowed for lots of talking time in the car, some delicious eating as Val and Matt are in the middle of everything in Uptown, a couple driving tours through neighborhoods and visiting schools (yeah I like to see schools from other areas) and lots of golf for Luke and Matt. Especially nice for Luke, was that it gave him some time to debrief and do some interacting with other similarly minded young professionals.

Drive Me Crazy

I have encountered more distinctively bad drivers here in Colorado Springs than anywhere else. Its driving me nuts. On the way home Friday one woman turned right in front of 3 cars who had the right of way (me included)  making an unprotected turn and then had the nerve to honk at US halfway through her turn while we were all stopped in the middle of the intersection to let crazy through. Well she sort of just went and we stopped to avoid having to deal with her in the future.

Also on Friday crazy white SUV made a dead stop in the fast lane during rush hour. Dead stop people, no warning, tapping of the breaks, nothing. Then they proceed to drive onto the median as if making a u-turn. Really?!

Also, yesterday Luke makes a right turn onto a busy road yesterday. The oncoming car sped up and changed lanes to give him a dirty look as though we cut him off. They SPED up?! Then over a hundred feet from the light they stop dead, yell at each other a bit and then in a very bad driver sort of way the move into the left hand turn lane. Yes, THEY disrupted the whole flow of traffic. Yes Luke and I exclaimed loudly at just how ridiculous they were.

Ugh. I'm about to drive to work. Let hope the crazies all stayed in bed this morning?

Just Jessica

Soooo now I'm married. The question has come up achem....as to whether or not Just Jessica is still an appropriate blog title.



"What's in a name? That which we call a rose

By any other name would smell as sweet."

Romeo and Juliet (II, ii, 1-2)

Back when I started my blog, the other bloggers I knew had family blogs. Mine was all mine. It was about me. Just me. Just Jessica.

Im married now. The kids at work have been calling me Mrs. N. They found out my whole new last name and we had a solid 5 minute conversation about it. Pronouncing all the syllables, then I had to write it on the board so they'd get all the sounds. Then a couple reverted to singing Nickelodeon theme songs. Nick nick nick nah nick nick nick ah loh de an.

Do we change to something clever tying in golf and crafting? Are we now Just Jessica and Luke since kids are a LONG ways in the future? How about Just Married Jessica? (Credit for the last two goes to commenters.)  Tell us what you think? Give us some suggestions? I think I'll put up a vote sometime next week once we've heard what ya'll have to say!

23

Today I turn 23. I enjoy what some other bloggers I follow do in sharing their age number of memories under a certain theme. In light of our recent marriage I thought I'd share 23 of our wedding presents I've used in the last 5 days.
1.) Bath towels, nothing is better than a fluffy new towel. (washed before use of course)

2.) Dishes. Our fiestaware is so bright and cheery! You can't look at it when just waking up, or after a long day at work and not smile!

3.) Kitchen Aid Paper towel dispenser, the thing is magic. It has a clicky mechanism that holds the roll and lets you tear just one off!

4.) Red pots and pans! Spaghetti just tastes better when the pans look that good!

5.) Ice Cream Maker, were both semi lactose intolerant. We've made lots of sorbets! Our favorite combo? Strawberry Lime

6.) Cuisinart Food processor- to purree the fruit to make sorbet!

7.) Glasses. Wide at the top, heavy on the bottom. No creases for anything to get stuck.

8.) Aero bed. It arrived in Fresno and we set it up to use in my dad's office (returned to office state after posing as my bedroom. The bed got moved on out.)

9.) Target Gift Card- to purchase hangers for our closet and laundry soap (for our laundry.)

10.) Knives. Ceramic and picnic from Sur La Table. They come in bright colors.

11.) Spices, from our spice rack! So I may have over seasoned our potatoes a little bit...I wanted to use them all!

12.) Toaster oven! Turkey, spinach, feta quesadilla!

13.) Pyrex- for mixing purgers and pancake mix and storing left overs!

14.) George Foreman- burgers and asparagus!

15.) Wine glasses- we've had some of the wine left from our reception in Moscow.

16.) Colander- spaghetti is a newlyweds staple. Its cheap.

17.) Quilt-have you seen that fantastic quilt Cindy made us? Its on our wall.

18.) Cutting Mats-for all those little pieces that go into breakfast burritos and burgers!

19.) Sheets, thats all thats on our bed, its a little bit warm.

20.) Blender- strawberry, blackberry cran-rasberry smoothies. Yum. I may have worken up the neighbors. Did I mention its the most powerful blender on the market?

21.)Can Opener, just used it to open re-fried beans. Its green, and it left no sharp edges, and has grabbers to pick up the top!

22.)Frames and shelves to make our apartment feel cozier!

23.) Pictures and notes, on our fridge that remind us of the people we love!

The Big Reveal

Luke planned our honeymoon all by hisself, and was able to keep it a secret until we were on the way out the day after the wedding! (Freeway signs sort of started to give it away!) Can you tell where we went?

We're headed to Colorado Springs today! More details to come!

48 ounces of Jumbled

Disclaimer: I have typed this whole piece while not wearing contacts or glasses. I can't exactly see what I'm typing so please forgive any errors.
Throughout school,teachers would always ask us to come up with alliterations for our name to help them remember. I always said that I was Jumbled Jessica because my brain was everywhere at once. It now seems that I did not quite know the full potential for jumbledness.

My mother passed away on March 29th, and since then I kind of feel like my brain got dropped in this amazing blender we got as an early wedding present. (The most powerful blender on the market, AND it's red.) I have a gazillion things going on at once and lets just say its taken me weeks to organize, clean and pack my room. There were so many wonderful people at her memorial service and I apologise if I mixed up any of your names or even called you by the wrong one.
Many people have asked me "How are you doing?"
I say, "We're doing." Then they generally look at me like I'm sort of crazy or maybe even hiding something.
Its not that I'm hiding anything, I think its more that I don't know. Were just moving forward.It may also be that I don't quite know how I should be doing otherwise, or even because I'm so jumbled and processed that I sometimes have trouble identifying feelings.
Ex. I went to take some things back to Michael's. Items I had taken my mother to procure, and the project never got started, One could say it was almost $20 worth of things I didn't want to throw away. And in retrospect one might say I didn't want the burden of finishing the project or even that it was at the time an unfriendly reminder. Anyway, Luke is with me and we wait in the line, I explain what happened and she says sorry, starts scanning the items, and then says, wait so you're not the card holder? I need the card and the card holder here. I couldn't quite understand how the sales lady didn't understand "passed away this week" and asked if I could have store credit. She said not without the cardholder and the card. I tactfully said loudly "Shes Dead." Took my things and left. Luke kindly followed me through this whole process and was there to hold me in the parking lot when the emotions took over. Like I said, I don't always know they're there but whamo they can hit you like a truck. He also let me stay in the car while he took the items back in to the sales lady per my request.  I realised I just didn't want them.
I think that responding to the death of a close loved one has got to be one of the steps of transitioning to womanhood. I would always glance weirdly at the woman crying in the weirdest place for no apparent reason. A good friend told me that one day you'll think you're fine. You've got it all under wraps, and then something random will set you off and it will twist up your whole day. It's like I need a sticker. I'm turning into a woman. I cry in random places.

There's also this weird sensation of being happy when you sad.

(Check out Tracy's blog here) I kind of wish it had been there earlier, she's a got a great metaphor and pearls of wisdom. Anyway, happy when you're sad is weird. At the service, when I'm seeing all these people I haven't seen in forever, we're celebrating mom's life, re connecting is it wrong that I'm excited and smiling and laughing. I figure not,  but it is a little weird when you're the loudest one in the room. :) I've also got this nice wedding shaped plant to put in the hole (seriously folks go read Tracy's blog) so I get to be excited about that, and have all the projects that mom and I hatched up to finish. I'm getting married in May! Mom died last week. Like I said, wierd sensation.

Big Decisions

This year has been very eventful, especially since May. Mom got diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma, I made it through classes, graduated, Luke and I got engaged, I started the teaching credential program, went to Disneyland, got swine flu(excuse me H1N1 Flu), spent a nice chunk of time in Moscow (even if I was banished) Mom went to San Francisco for a stem cell transplant. When I start writing it all down it's hard to believe all of that has happened in 4 months! Is retrospective stress real?

Anyway, it all started catching up with me recently. Even though I didn't realise it, a lot of it was my reaction to the events. I started zoning in classes, I was feeling ill more often than not, during off time I've been preferring to stay in my room, in my pajamas, surfing the web and turning into a vegetable. This was beginning to affect my school work and I was worried because I wasn't feeling a "click" with where I was.

I finally got the sense to go in and meet with my advisor. On the way to my appointment I talked to my mom on the phone. She was a little (lot) out of it because of meds, and wanting me to come bust her out of the hospital. She was done. She had to go, and I went into my appointment. I met with my advisor, started describing my experience, and she asked me: "Who would you normally talk to about such a big dilemma?" The answer? My mom. Which prompted me to begin crying through the rest of our meeting. Emotion I didn't realise was there started surfacing. It's easy to get caught up in everything that's happening and not grasp the toll it can take, and is taking, even if I'm not right there with everything. Sometimes it's the absence. ANYWAY

My advisor strongly recommended that I seek guidance and advice, and reassess "the plan." First I used this handy dandy Pros and Cons Calculator. (Just kidding...sort of.) Then I began talking with friends and family seeking advice. Running the scenario by each person, paying attention to how I present it, and taking in their thoughts and ideas. It made me think of something I heard about at a Mennonite Camping Convention. I can't remember what group this is associated with but I think I would fit in well. If someone has a big decision to make there is a gathering of people from their community to hear the person out and the choices they have to make. Then they advise the person and point out things they might have missed. This is a good way for me to process, because I have so many people to remind me that God's plan trumps mine. It's my hardest lesson. Even harder than Jo March and her temper...Little Women reference. So after a long time of exploring my options, and for a while even trying to go with something else, I have decided to withdraw from the teaching credential program. I will search for a part time job, and provide care for my mother who will be coming home from UCSF Medical Center some time soon.

PS. This might TMI (too much information) but I figure many of you take interest in me and what I'm up to, it might help if you were updated on something other than things that come in every color.

I'm back

I was away for a while and boy was it an adventure! I went down to the "LA area" excited to see Luke and his family, spend some more time with my family, go to Disneyland, then come back to Fresno for the day and do wedding stuff all day, and you get the drift I had a lot planned. Well then I went and got Swine flu. We dont know how I got it, but man is it a kill joy. Disneyland got cut, I was pretty boring laying in bed and sleeping, one full day was spent in Medical offices, wedding appointments were cancled and I had to stay away from mom so she didn't get sick. (Bittersweet since it meant I DID get to see family in Idaho and stay with Luke for a good chunk of time.) School is starting today. I wish I was more excited.
Updates will be coming shortly. Ill do them all in seperate blogs but after reading this, I guess you'll have an overarching idea of what happened and it might make sense.

How We Met

I was perusing wedding website options. Not sure I'm sold on the idea. I'm pretty stuck on blogging, but anyway. All of them have a "How We Met" section. Hey, I can blog that though. Its not restricted to "Official Wedding Websites." Soooo here it is. How we met.

We met through our roommates. My roommate Kelsi was dating Luke's roommate Cody. At the beginning of the semester Cody and Kelsi had invited each of us to go with them to watch a movie in Pullman. In an attempt to make it seem "not like a date" we each brought someone along (Drew and Jenny) Our attempt failed and just made it into a bigger group date. For the record: Jess sat by Jenny. Jessica drove Jenny, Drew, and Luke to the Pullman, WA movie theater in her yellow bug. The first thing Luke said once they were on their way was: "How long have you been driving a manual car?" Yep. That's how guys get girls these days. Insult their driving.