Yes, I know it's about time I post something about my life. I thought that being home would give me some time to write a few blog posts and catch up on that online class. Right!! There's no time to write when you are hauled to Walmart 5 times in a day.

I started the break early by surprising Corey in Co. The original plan was to fly in to Denver on the 18th and he would pick up a flight with me to Austin. But I cancelled my first flight to Denver and caught a ride into Arvada with Dave's sister. Of course Corey messed up the surprise by going to the office Christmas party but he still had no idea I was coming. We spent Thursday in Arvada and took of to Austin to see my family. Poor Corey was introduced to the WHOLE family and was immediately put to work making tamales. (Only about 300 of them).



















I loved having him here and hated to see him leave but he needed to be with his family. Christmas was chaotic and all at my parents' house. Joy. I went to bed thinking about the great day today would be. Spend some time with the girls at New Moon and then home to watch two pretty quiet boys for a couple of hours. Nope. Woke up to Caitlin and mom sick, no New Moon, and the quiet boys without there meds. Fun Fun.

I should go check and see what they are getting into...

Photoshop

I have Photoshop now! I haven't had time to go out and take any pictures as of late but now that my finals are done I have plenty of time. I'll be able to update the photo blog more now that I have time to take pictures. Here are some pics my mom took while she was here over the Thanksgiving break that I played with in Photoshop.










I gave Corey a hard time about this one because of the look on his face but secretly it's my favorite. Love you Cor!





I love that he lets me be goofy around him! Mom doesn't like that I can't take serious pictures but neither can he so we're such a pair.

Thanksgiving "Break"

First of all I want to tell you about something very exciting. I learned how to split a tangerine right in half. So instead of pealing it you just pull it open. Kind of nifty. After eating each of the slices it looks like this:

















As for the "break" things are looking up. Cor comes home in a couple of days, and I know he would much rather stay in CO but I miss him so it's happy news for me. My mom is in town until Monday morning and we plan to do some Black Friday shopping. My wisdom teeth are gone! And my doc said I should be fine eating tomorrow. he suggested to stay away from the turkey but I am going to try to cut it up small enough. I have hardly had any swelling and the pain has been pretty minimal. I think I am on my way down finally. Mom and I even went shopping after the surgery. I am pretty hard core.













Look at that, hardly any swelling! I still had gauss in my mouth too.

I'm moving sometime during the break. It's closer to Cor; I already live pretty close but now I can walk to his place in two minutes. So great! He needs to get back soon, I miss him!

The rest of the plans for the "break" are tomorrow's food of course, Twilight, Black Friday shopping, Saturday's game, moving, and some sleep somewhere in there.

List #7 Why I Would Rather Be in CO...

1. No School. I spent an entire three day weekend without my laptop and school books. Yeah that's right folks, leaving the laptop surprised me too. But it was great! I would do it again in a heartbeat.

2. Cards. Lots and lots of cards! I've met my match. Before meeting Cor's family my mom was the only person who would play with me for massive amounts of time (like an entire summer). I have a new favorite game...Progressive Rummy. I also taught the Humrich's how to play peanuts so the weekend of card playing was just what I needed.














3. Hot Tubbing in the snow. I am a wimp when it comes to the cold weather but ta-da perfect solution...go hot tubbing. Genius!













4. Of course! The people. This should be on the top of the list because that was the best part of the weekend. I loved hanging out with the Humrich fam...even Grandpa Green.

5. So much more to explore. I've only been to Durango and Arvada so I have much much more to see in CO.

6. Big comfy bed. Yeah I stole it from Corey but he'll just have to forgive me.

7. Having tons of fun with Cor. No work, no school just time for hanging out.

I finally get a break to post. Enjoy.

So it's been awhile huh? I'm winding down with time at school which means winding up with the amount of papers due. So far it has been little 3 pagers but I'm starting to write 9 pagers. Then there's the big 20 pager I have due at the end of the semester. But hey, only one left right?

I've been avidly Tweeting and on Facebook for work. Social media is the way for companies to go. I'm serious and hope to continue helping companies get this going after graduation.

Corey and I are having a ton of fun, even when doing homework. He's got a big load this week so I guess if I want to see him I should start doing homework. Darn to good influences! We went to the TCU game on Saturday. Not too exciting but we have new pictures now. Here's my favorite:



I'm going to CO next month with Cor and I'm excited for the trip. After that it's out with the wisdom teeth and then a visit with Mom.

I'm looking forward to Christmas break. It means I'm that much closer to graduation and for the first time in probably 4 years I'll be home for my birthday. And hopefully Cor will be there too.

Too Much Fun

Is there any such thing? Probably but at this point I don't care I need a little fun in my life. I changed my hair on Saturday and went to the game with Corey. He was done with the game by third quarter but we stuck it out.

You can't really tell but there is red in there with the blonde. I'll take a better picture of my hair later but for now let me introduce you to who has been taking most of my time. The picture was taken with my phone, not too bad huh? Corey lives just down the road and one day asked me to go get ice cream...good thing I did! I have seen him everyday since and he's still not sick of me.

I did it!

I started a 4th blog! I decided to go with the recipe blog but more interactive than I had ever planned. It's going to couple as an assignment for my digital rhetoric class. Please help me out, take a look and interact with Pantry Ideas! I'm still learning this new blogging site. So far I still like Blogger better but I figured 3 blogs is enough for one site; time to explore!

Don't Drink the Water

Just last week I was told not to drink the water at work. Now I realize we have those nifty water stands at work but I just figured there were some employees that felt like the water fountain just wasn't good enough for them. You know the type. Anyway come to find out there's something wrong with our water. So my apologies go out to my employees for thinking those thoughts...even though most of the time I got water from the stand instead of the fountain too. But I've really been wondering about this water situation. Keep in mind that I've worked at BYU Broadcasting for 2 1/2 years now. I'm just curious as to what is wrong with the water because I know I have had a drink or two from the fountain when the other water was out. Am I going to get an unnatural disease? Or grow a 6th toe? As I question my health I kept thinking of a certain elephant, I love Tantor! So for your enjoyment, here he is!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9SpAe3YEbY

Freelance Work

Just a thought I plan on going with. I've refrained in the past because taxes could get pretty complicated and, let's face it, I don't like complicated. But if that's the only thing keeping me from doing freelance writing then I should just suck it up. I'll keep you posted

Wow. I'm really not cool.

It's just like a movie to make you feel lame. I returned home from a fabulous night with the girls but "Julie and Julia" made me think, ouch, no really I'm not cool.

As my previous post shows how desperate I am to be writing I can't help but wonder "so what?" This blog has, what, five followers tops. I want to make a statement, make something of myself, have more then ten readers? Can I do that? Probably not, but of course it's not going to stop me from trying. Don't get me wrong. I'm not a go-ahead-and-just-do-it kind of gal. I absolutely hate failing but I set myself up for it none-the-less. (Yes I really like the dashes today).

Despite my love for cooking, I don't think a food blog is really the thing to do. As much as I love photography, I don't have the equipment or software to do something great. And contrary to what my parents tell me, I'm not a great writer. Have I depressed you enough for one post? Good. I'll try to be a little more optimistic next time.

Before I forget what my own blog says, I'll share with you:

Count your blessings. Once you realize how valuable you are and how much you have going for you, the smiles will return, the sun will break out, the music will play, and you will finally be able to move forward the life that God intended for you with grace, strength, courage, and confidence. -Og Mandino

Ideas?

I need some help. So I really want to watch Julie and Julia. I want to write a blog that ends up meaning something. I had thoughts of a cooking blog but never started that. I started a photography blog but I haven't started working on that. So here's the question...any blog ideas? Should I start a crafty one? Should I get into the photography and go all out? Or do you have any other ideas? Party blog where I give party tips, having thrown these parties of course. (By the way, mocktail party at my place this Thursday...details to come on Facebook). So like I said, the challenge is to find a cool blog Jessica can keep up with and have fun....spend her spare time. Hit me up and let me know!

List #6 Places I've Been

I have an amazing opportunity to add two more states to the list of places I’ve been list. Paul and I head to Washington on Friday. Looks like I need to make an east coast trip.

Texas
New Mexico
Arizona
Nevada
California
Colorado
Idaho
Arkansas
Missouri
Illinois
Indiana
Alaska

Slow Down

I haven’t blogged as much as I feel that I should. But then I got to thinking, why do I feel the need to blog? Who really reads this anyway? People who are going to hear everything I have to say because I tell them when I see them. By the time I put something down on my blog I’ve already talked to everyone who reads this thing. So. I purposefully kept this information from people all day today just so I can blog about it and make my blogging experience feel more worthwhile.

I went to Allen’s today. The little grocery store on my way to work. Some already knew this, but what I didn’t tell you was my impression of said establishment. This was my first experience with Allen’s and I have to admit the store wasn’t doing so well with a good first impression. I walked in and thought the place smelled…sorry to be so blunt…like someone threw up at the entrance. I’ve been queasy the last few days already and smelling that just set me off. But I realize that since I have been queasy that maybe it was just me.

The rest of the experience was just fine. There wasn’t that many people in the store and it was quiet. The cashier greeted me nicely, which sadly enough actually annoys me, but this time I guess I wasn’t such a snob. All in all Allen’s reminded me of little grocery stores in Tipton, IN. My dad is from Tipton and we made the trip yearly. Here are some things I remember best about IN and everything being just a tad slower.

Big Boy Restaurants

I don’t know why but I loved going here when we went to Indiana. I think it could possibly be because I could get pickled okra from the salad bar. Yes I realize this could possibly categorize me as weird but who cares.

Dairy Queen

Yes, these are everywhere. But not like Tipton’s Dairy Queen. It’s …authentic…yes that’s right an authentic fast food joint. This place is the bomb. The ice cream is delish and the chicken strips are made out of real chicken. Of course I don't know if this is still the case since it's been about ten years since I've been there.

Front Porch Swings/ Rocking Chairs

This is my idea of retirement. Being at home rocking away with the only worry being what sweet thing will I spoil the grand kids with. No matter what street in Tipton you are on you will see this.

There’s more that I thought of but it took me too long to write this down, and I kept my secret so no one else can remind me of what I am missing. Oh well, I am sure you get my drift. Living life slow, that’s my point. ...Oh! My dad, yes I love that about Indiana. Of course!

Yummy-ness and fun

I realize there are a couple of things I need to catch my people up with. Like one, I cut my bangs. Ok, so I cut them and then decided I wanted to trim everything else up so the next day I had someone at Paul Mitchell do some to my hair. I can already tell that the bangs are going to be a hassle. They make my forehead oily (yes, I know this is just what you wanted to be reading about) and because my hair is curly I must do something with myself every morning. I can’t even take a nap any more without needing to tame them after. Geez, life is so hard. Beckee taught me that. Or at least reminded me all the time.

I also made amazing strawberry dumplings this week and doubled the recipe so I could share it with more people. My fingers and tongue hurt so bad by the end of it (I’m allergic) but it was all worth it. I’m trying peach cobbler today. I have no idea what has gotten into me but I have this huge desire to wear pearls and an apron and do some baking. No worries I still have no desire to wear heals.

I went hiking on Friday. I didn’t have a whole lot of time so I took sandwiches up a little way and ate on this big rock thing (I know, I’m so scientific). My goal is to have time at the end of the summer and be able to hike to the top of Timp. Maybe a sunrise hike. I did some research online and every one says that it’s a must. So if I must then who I am I to say no. So if anyone is interested let me know! For now we stuck to Rock Canyon. Didn’t see the top and I don’t know if the trail goes all the way up. Another adventure for another day I guess.


And Happy Father’s Day to any father’s who may be reading my blog. I don’t think there are but maybe some future father’s and you are just as important. My dad is the best, not that I am biased in any way. But really he is. And I get to see him in a week! It’s been 5 or 6 months since I’ve seen my family and I’m really itching to have some fun with them. Here are some of my favorite pictures of my dad and I. Aren't we cute?

Oh Happy Day

Ok so yesterday I had a bad day at work. I didn’t say anything in yesterday’s post because I was just going to forget about it. Basically one of our customers made me cry. It’s lame thinking about it now, but for some reason the condescending way he talked to me made me crack. Normally I stick to my guns and don’t let them talk to me the way he did but he just kept going. I finally got him transferred to my manager and took a quick trip around the building. I was so irritated that it got to me the way it did. Anyway, today I came into work and I had a reply waiting for me from someone telling me the link I sent them did not work for her and to please walk her through how I found what she was looking for when she had spent a very long time searching. I told her it had been no problem and then walked her through the process. It really was no problem and I didn’t think anything of it so I was pleasantly surprised to find this in my inbox.

Oh, Jessica... You have made me very happy!... I got it! It means a lot to me. I want you to know that, 1) I don't know who you are but I wish and pray that our Father in Heaven's richest blessings be upon you, and 2) I live on a very limited income, but I will find some money and send a donation to the BYU channel. All, because of you!

Have a beautiful day!

Oh, trust me, now I will!

In love …with Ikea!

I gathered my roommates and went to Draper. We had so much fun wandering through all the neato stuff! We all agreed that we must go more often. There are a couple of things I didn’t get and a couple of things I even had the will power to put back but what I did get I am very excited about. I got the Poang bouncy chair and a bright colorful rug for my room. Ikea instructions have this funny looking guy on them and Holly came across these instructions for my chair. These are not the instructions that came with my chair but I think the assembly would have been a lot more entertaining had they been.

Ahhhh DTV!

We received hundreds of calls today from people. A majority were calling for the first time to do something about it and a big percentage of them were mad at me when they found out they had to wait to get coupons in the mail and they had to go buy a converter box.

Other fun things that happened today with the DTV calls and I thought I would share a couple with you. I was giving one guy the help hotline to the FCC and he started dialing the number while I was on the phone with him instead of writing it down! Tender. I love old people like this!

Also I got to hear bits and pieces of other phone calls and I over heard Catherine saying, “Yes, your TV has to be turned on.” She told me later that he then asked how to do that. Nice!

Most of the people just called and said, “I’m calling about DTV.” And that was it, they saw our number, saw they could call with questions, but they didn’t know which questions to ask.

Some people asked how much DTV cost. Even though I know it’s free I understand how some people, especially those who lost signal today, would thing they now have to pay for TV.

My favorite was the little kids who couldn’t get their cartoons anymore! So sweet to hear their little voices asking for help. I felt so bad when I told them they needed a converter box but mom and dad were at work so they weren’t going to get their cartoons until mom and dad could help. One kid even went through the set up process with one of our operators because his mother did not speak English. A little 5 year old translator!

Oh yeah I’m sure you are wondering about that poor old lady I made cry. She was trying so hard to get her TV hooked up. She had a new TV and should have been receiving the digital signal (this was a common problem). I was walking her through the channel scan process and her menu kept disappearing, I guess it was on a timer, this happened over and over for about 20 minutes. I felt for her.

I couldn’t help but wonder what these people have been doing for the past year! I kept thinking of everything we did at KBYU and people still had the simple questions that should have been answered in the beginning. The lady finally hung up saying she would get her neighbor to come help and call us back. Lovely.

Motivation

I need some. I need a new running routine or change where I run. Maybe a partner? I don’t know! I need to eat better and exercise more. My problem is I keep getting sick and just don’t feel like working out. I know that’s an excuse but who really wants to go for a run when you are so anemic you feel like you are in a comatose state. I tried running Monday only to end up feeling like my legs were going to buckle. Anyone have motivation tools that I may be able to utilize? I already have Nike+ and I love it. I just need to go out and use it. Let me know if there is anything that has motivated you to work out! Thanks!

Welk-come Back!

It’s official. I am back in membership. I get to write emails, take calls, send out mailings all the exciting stuff I’ve been dying to do. I posted this change on my Facebook status and Amanda was kind enough to Welk-come me. You know, because we show the Lawrence Welk show. Ok so we’re nerds but I love it. I’ll be staying at work until 5:00 today for the first time since switching to full time status. Yay for money! I still do Major Donor stuff but I get to do all of my old and new tasks within membership with all my buddies. No more bored Jessica stuck in her corner office. I’m right smack dab in the middle of all the action.

So Blaine, from work, has occasionally showed me a comical video or two from The Onion. I recently came across this story about the Texas border. Trust me it's not the border you are thinking. It cracks me up, there's even a Seattle comment for you Paul. But the best is the end. Enjoy.

Jon Schmidt is amazing!

My first date back in Provo, since ending the engagement for that matter, was to a Jon Schmidt concert (Thanks Curtis). Schmidt is amazing and at work we came across this new video he has of "Love Story." Yes this is the type of thing we do at work, it's a vital part of maintaining KBYU's membership quota. Enjoy!

Roomies

My roommates tried but did not succeed in getting me to go eat sushi with them. So here I sit in our fabulously redone front porch pretending to do the homework I claimed I must do. Before leaving Holly expressed some concern for not being a part of my blog so in order to not disappoint I will now proceed to tell you about my new roommates.

Holly will go first since this was her idea. Holly is from AZ and loves to cook yummy things. I should know what she is majoring in but alas I do not. She has an awesome DVD collection and puts up with me so that makes her amazing.

Then there’s Krista who is also from AZ (but they didn’t know each other before BYU). Krista has red hair. She is planting fun things in our porch making it smell like spring. Krista works at brick oven flipping pasta (check out her hot arm muscles). She likes random ballroom movies and listens to munchkin music.

And then there’s Krystal. We don’t see much of her but she has a super cute room (including a chandelier). She’s from Georgia and is full of spunk.
Holly is that better?

One big ball of stress.

I feel like I’m barely staying above water these days. Actually not even that. I remember going to the coast with my family when I was about 6 or 7. We hunted for seashells and life was good. (Ok, so I found out years later that my parents bought the seashells and put them on the beach for me but such is life) And then one day while swimming in the ocean my cousin took me out farther than I could touch so that I could be with all of the older cousins. Then they left me. I tried swimming back but as some of you may know my swimming abilities aren’t that great. I exhausted myself in going only a few feet and gave up. I alternated between swimming on my back and bobbing. I would sink to the bottom and push myself back up to get a breath. My uncle noticed my head surfacing only to disappear again and brought me back to shore. I’m waiting for that bringing back to shore part.

I signed up for three Independent Study classes after being told that there should be no problem finishing them in a month. Wrong. I don’t know how long these classes will take but it’s going to be much more than a month. So much for getting a nice break. I have three more classes to sign up for to be on track for graduation, and I have 2 options. Sign up for them summer term, take my fall classes and graduate. Or finish what I’ve got on my plate, take my fall classes and add a part time load to winter semester (pushing back graduation until April). All this trouble over three stupid classes. Some say to enjoy my time in school while my brain screams give me a flippin’ break. Graduating in December gives me more time to certify for a teaching certificate, while graduating in April gives me more time with a secure student job. I am probably stressing over this more than I should which leads me to my next update.

I feel like I’ve been battling some sort of illness since February. I had strep in February and spent March recouping from that and catching up (but failing to do so) in school work. In April I had a cold sore (had no idea what it was though) and then I started to feel like the strep was coming back but I ignored it and went to AZ for a friend’s wedding. I had a fever the entire week but of course I did nothing so when I got back to Provo I bucked up and went to urgent care where they told me “Not sure what you have but take this.” Go figure. That started to clear up and my wisdom tooth decided to give me hell. Guess I should go get those pulled. Then allergies hit so my head was one big throbbing weight on my shoulders. The word repulsive kept coming to my mind, dramatic I know but hey that’s how I felt. I’ve been so down the last few weeks that I seriously don’t remember what I did or who I was with. I would leave work since all I could do was stare at my computer screen. Driving wasn’t the safest thing for me to do, ever have those moments where after an intersection you have no idea if the light was actually green. Well, yeah… I went to the doctor one more time and I think I’m on my way back up. I have to kick this allergy crap and work on stress (which probably won’t happen but at least I’m trying).

My schedule is packed. I wake up and go to work until 3 or 4, come home to do school work until 8-ish. Wait, did I say I was going to have a relaxing summer? I think I did. What happened to that idea? I liked that idea.

I ran into Joanna at church on Sunday and we skipped on the last hour so we can catch up on everything. I miss that girl! We hope to get together more often and hang out, possibly lie out in the sun and read. Sun? What’s that? I haven’t seen the sun in weeks; I’ve been so caught up in getting everything back to par (and failing to do so) that I’ve been cooped up in a cubicle at work or my room at home.

One Word...FREE!

Seriously no catch, free freshwater pearls at Goldsmith Co. Jewelers. They have this offer out where you print a coupon and go stand in line. That's it. They even offer you a second strand for only $20. They are out right now because well...they were only expecting around 200 people to show but they give you a voucher to go get it later. Trust me it's worth it! I stood in line for 15 minutes, that's it, and that was even with a mix up. Print the coupon here and go get your pearls!!

Goal Setting

I decided last week to make a goal to run 3 times a week. So far so good. My mile time is still pretty lame and not even worth mentioning but it is improving so that’s all that matters right? I can say that I would make the time for the Air Force fitness test. I bought the Nike attachment for my iPod and it has been a lot of fun keeping up with my workouts. For a couple of hours after I run it sounds like I’m going to cough up a lung but it eventually goes away.

I finally have stuff on my walls thanks to Paul. My room doesn’t echo as bad and my roommates can stop telling me how boring my room looks. I told Beckee that I finally feel like I live there instead of just being a visitor. All I need to do now is get some pictures printed and I’ll be set. I think this weekend I will clear off our porch, ambitious goal yes, but it will get done.

Other goals include studying (no, not studying more, I need to start studying), more meaningful scripture study and prayer. I know they say not to start too many goals at once but I'm from Texas so it's go big or go home right? I would love to go home actually but it will probably be a while before I can make a trip down there.

I was given a new task at work. Shocker huh? I was actually asked to do two but I only took one. I get to organize our next DTV prep night. I’m getting volunteers to come in and call people in Utah to see if they are ready for the switch to DTV (if the switch ever happens). I even get to be a supervisor and do the DTV training. Look at me saying “get to” ha-ha. No, more like I’ve done this for the past year and I might as well do it again!

Monday Monday

Sing the title of this entry. That's how I intended it. No matter how great or horrible my weekend is I will never be able to get through Monday without something happening that sets me back. Yesterday I locked myself out of my house. No shocker there I used to do this all the time but I haven't since moving into the house I live in now. So Whitney kidnapped me, which was great, I skipped class, not so great, and work which I am OK with because I can make that up.

FHE was great. We raced crickets, and yes I touched one! ha ha. I won the first race because Adam smashed his cricket and lost my second race to Joanna. Joanna went home with second place and a broken blood vessel. Intense.

I am now at work running monthly reports, wondering when I'm going to get this month's renewals done and looking at the stack of other tasks I have piling up. The sad thing is I made up these other tasks. Why must I feel the need to organize?!

Yo Dude!

Emily is always there to make my day better!

Where have I been? Seriously if anyone knows I would love to be enlightened on this matter. I came back from the Christmas break and immediately jumped into classes. Now a three day weekend is coming up and I'm thinking "Where did the past month go?" Valentine's Day is coming up and I'm thinking I want to be anywhere but Provo. Anyone have any suggestions?

So… me since thanksgiving? Christmas break was spent with the family. This was the first year we didn't have tamales but we still had an amazing Texas Christmas...Fried Catfish! Guy took the kids out for a ride on the Gater and I went along to hold his drink (more like to make sure he didn't drive off into the tank).

The first week was spent in Texas in the lovely 70 degree weather. And then we headed to NM for some skiing. Yep that's right I went skiing!!! And I'm alive to tell the tale. Although the next morning I had my doubts. I had no idea skiing was such a workout!

When I got back from the break I spent a week down with strep. I seriously wanted to shoot myself. I couldn't swallow and my fever had me wanting to scratch the eyes out of anyone who touched me. ...no one was injured due to my illness...

When I recovered I thankfully hadn't missed too much with my classes and I was able to enjoy myself with friends. Dave and I went snowshoeing. I had no idea what that was by the way.

P.S. I haven't really been able to catch up with everyone since being back...I was a tad bit distracted...but the distraction is gone and I'm ready to party. So let's get together!