Eva

Eva is my best friend. Words can not describe the worth of our friendship. I have tried to write this blog over and over and over. Trying to find the right words that give her justice. Words that would match up to her inner and outer beauty. Unfortunately, I lack the knowledge of words big enough, strong enough, perfect enough, to describe Eva. So-like the cliché phrase- a picture is worth a thousands words, I hope that some of the pictures of eva and me will help you fathom how much she means to me. Without her, I would not be who I am today. She is, and will always be, my best friend. Eva. 

hockey game

Disney 

Girl's Night

Band Camp

Band Camp

Powder Puff

Homecoming 2010

Marching Band

.....Marching Band

Homecoming 2010

Senior Retreat

Michigan Football Game

My Birthday 2009

Eva visits me at college

2006

Night at the 50 yrd line 2008

2009 Lax Game

My Birthday 2011

Graduation 

love.

Summer 2010

Traverse City

Chicago 2010

I Love you Eva!

Love.
Jessica.

Change is constant

The sermon today at church was about ways people can stay strong through change. With the help of wise friends or family you can overcome change. With the help of God you can overcome change. 

I am always going through changes. In fact, EVERYONE is always going through changes. Change is constant. Whether you change the color of your hair or the country you live in, we are all under constant change. We change schools, friends, hobbies, churches, jobs, houses, styles, interests, etc. I sometimes get overwhelmed with change. I get comfortable with my life the way it is; and then when something different happens I get scared and frustrated and mad and sad and confused. 

The future has been on my mind lately. More specifically, declaring a major/minor has been on my mind. I am almost 100% sure that I will major in communications, but my minor is unclear. Since high school I have been certain that I was going to minor in spanish. Spanish was always going to be my minor. But now I am thinking of changing my minor to business. My mind has always been set on Spanish but now something has changed. Maybe business is my calling. Maybe not. There is change and I am scared. It is unclear what I should do and I am confused. 

Change is constant. I know that I am not know what to minor in right now, but I know that I can lean on God. Because of the constant change in my past, I know I can rely on God to have me be where I am suppose to be and do what I am suppose to do. 

Love.
Jessica. 

"Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it and you will find rest for your soul" Jeremiah 6:16  

AND

Happy Father's Day!!!!!! 

Knowledge is Power.

I have been trying to eat healthier. Who isn't, right? I am learning about what is good to eat and what is bad to eat. "Eat this and not that". Although I am becoming more aware of what I should and should not be eating, my diet has not changed. But knowledge is power. So I am hoping the more I learn, the more likely I can put healthier choices into my daily eating habits.
I stumbled upon this great website that showed the 20 healthiest foods that you could find for under one dollar! I was ecstatic to see coffee on there. (which is what I am drinking right now!) I was also happy to see that a lot of the food, on the list, are food I already enjoy. Which then surprised me. I am not that far away from my goal. Sure, I could eat less of the delicious ice cream, but my goal of eating healthy is not that far off. My goal may not be accomplished today, but learning more about healthy foods is a good start. Knowledge is power and finding out that some of the healthier foods are foods I already eat, was an encouragement. I re-evaluated my goal and am pleased with where I am at. Becoming more aware of what I should and should not eat helps me continue to strive for a healthier diet. If you are in the same boat as me, check out this website.

http://www.divinecaroline.com/22177/52070-twenty-healthiest-foods-1

Love.
Jessica.

Parachute. Melted heart.

The afternoon rain was NOT going to stop a great night from happening. Tonight Colin and I went to go see our favorite band, Parachute. Gosh they are AMAZING. Their songs/lyrics. Their instrumentals. Their voices. Their connection with the audience. Everything about them is why I call them my favorite. I would say they are a "heart throbber" but I have no heart to throb. My heart literally melts every time I see them. I can not pin point a reason as to why they blow every other band out of the water. There is something about  Will, Kit, Alex, Nate, and Johnny (the fine men of the band) that reach out to me. That I connect with. Something that makes my heart melt.
I am sure that there is something in everyone's life that makes their hearts melt. It could be that classic book or movie. Or mother's home made birthday cake. Or the hot guy at the coffee shop. Whatever may melt your heart, may you also find reflection in it. May you look that heart melting person, event or thing and see happiness. joy. warmth. hope.
Parachute gives me that feeling of pure joy. I find music very "moving". Music can be inspiring, loving, sad, motivational, etc. That is why I find music, such as Parachute, so great.

Thank you Colin for such a fantastic night. You are my true heart throbber.
Thank you Parachute for an AMAZING show. I can not wait to see you in Muskegon, MI

Love.
Jessica.

Here are some videos/picture Colin took tonight.

Highness

I have been OBSESSED with Boyce Avenue these past couple of days. Whenever I was not working or hanging with the people I love, I was on youtube; watching and listening to the beautiful music of Boyce Avenue. As I was watching all of the videos on youtube, I got a spark of "highness". You may think you have no idea what I am talking about, but I am sure that you have felt it. I am sure you have felt that bust of life. A "high" on life. A feeling of content. happiness. excitement. love. A feeling you never want to live without. I generally get this feeling after mission trips or a retreat. After I get focused and comfortable with the person I am. I get recharged. Almost as if my life is completely organized and clear and clean and .... perfect.
Now, I know my life is NOT perfect. In fact, it is far from perfect. But I was either inspired by the great music or God is sending me a sign that recharged me. It gave me the spark of "highness". I know my high on life will not last forever. Actually, I would not be surprised if I wake up tomorrow and the high is gone. But, at this moment, my heart has skipped a beat and is beating to the perfect rhythm of life.

Thank you Boyce Avenue and God for igniting my spark of "highness". May this high never leave. And may this feeling motivate me to push towards what I am to do with my life. May this feeling push me to be the best I can be.

Love.
Jess

Random #1

So Good!!!!

spontaneous

I am going to ignore the downfall of my day because when it all comes down to it, it is really "no big deal". And I have been told to go to bed happy and I'll have a better nights rest. Since I want to sleep well tonight, I will stray from my conflict of the day and share something more positive. So aside from my frustrations, today was exciting. spontaneous. I LOVE to be surprised. Colin picked me up this morning and brought me to the park. We played catch; which is probably one of my favorite things to do. no lie. and then he brought out a blanket and a cooler. He had packed us a picnic lunch! It wasn't that I was extremely hungry or that we had just played one of my favorite games, that made me so excited and happy. It was the surprise of it all. It was the date-like structure and unknowing event that made me smile ear to ear. Although it was blazing hot, I still enjoyed my time with Colin. His random act made my day. 

Little signs of spontaneous acts are great! They keep you on your toes while also letting your heart soar with excitement.

Love.

Jessica

Colin.

Happiness in People.

This morning I was able to enjoy a wonderful coffee date with one of my best friends. Kajal. We are girls, so of course we talked about boys :)

Kajal.

She described her past weekend in Ann Arbor and the boy she met there. Cute Kajal giggled and smiled through her illustration of him. Through the definition, I was able to see this boy was definitely up her alley. She is into those adorable nerds. Nerd who are smart, caring, romantic, and a family man. She was beaming. It was so great! She has finally been able to let go of her last boyfriend. Kajal told me how much happier she is without her ex. How much she feels more like herself without him. Without him she is able to shine more of Kajal; which led her to the fine gentleman in Ann Arbor.
I was jealous of her new found happiness. As you know, my relationship was blurry and confusing. I did not know if I was going to be better off without my boyfriend or with him. After describing my predicament with Kajal (along with numerous other friends prior) I was able to organize my feelings. I still love my boyfriend and through our difficulties we will get stronger. I will not give up on this relationship. not yet. He is very good to me and although we have conflicts we are still happy together. In fact, after the coffee date, my boyfriend and I talked everything through and our recently weakened bond has patched it's self up. Today was SO great! Colin, my boyfriend, and I grabbed a pizza and headed towards the park; where we ate, talked and played in the water fountains.
We all find happiness in people. We pass along those who bring us down and search for the ones that let us shine our own light; who love us for who we are and who we are happy with. Who give us daily joy. I find this happiness, generally, in my best friends. but today it was found in Colin. (talk about things changing quickly-my last blog post).

Colin. 

Thank you Kajal for being my inspiration!!

Love.
Jessica.

Staples and Stitches. Strong to Weak.

Anything can change within a blink of an eye. ok, well maybe not that fast. But situations, relationships, and opportunities can all fly by so fast; that, at times, the quick change can knock you off your feet. This past week was hitting me with changes and problems that pushed me right to the ground.

Exhibit A:

I work as a lifeguard. I also work at a café. My schedule for the café was set before my schedule for lifeguarding. This past saturday no one was available to lifeguard in the morning. I wasn't scheduled to work at the café until 3 so I told my lifeguarding schedule manager that I could open but I could not stay the whole 4 hour shift. She said that was fine and that she'll have someone come in early. Well when it came time for me to leave for the café, on saturday, I made sure my co-worker had the pool under-control and when I got the okay, I left. Well within the 15-20 my co-worker was alone at the pool (waiting for someone to come in early to cover the rest of my shift) a boy jumped on a little girl. The boy had to get stitches on his chin and the girl had to get staples on her head. Just within the little time my co-worker was alone, caos happened. The sunny day of fun turned into a blood mess of staples and stitches. It only took 20 minutes for something completely wrong to happen. Just a longer glance in the wrong direction to not prevent a problem. 20 minutes and the cool pool held blood and two people injured. 

Exhibit B: 

I have a boyfriend. He is very handsome and funny. kind. tall. athletic. friendly. (a huge list to be continued). We had a problem that escalated to numerous problems/conflicts. The conflicts made me question what we had. what we were. It surprises me how quickly our strong bond has weakened. My thoughts and feelings are so unorganized. If you would have asked me about how my relationship with him was a week ago, I would have told you it was better than ever. That he was the man of my dreams. I am not saying that he his not the man of my dreams now. He is an amazing young man. And he would be good to any woman he is with. I just question how well we mesh. How well we really work well together. 

Anything can come to a quick change. The winds are always changing. Our paths are always swerving. But I know from experience, that we learn from our past. We learn from our situations, relationships, and opportunities that fly by us. 

As a lifeguard. I know now, never to leave a pool without two lifeguards on duty. and as a girlfriend. My next step is still unclear. But I know that whatever step comes next I will carry more knowledge on with me. I learn. I grow. and I carry on. We all carry on. Even with the things that come quickly and knock us off our feet. 

So go with the wind. When it changes directions, go with it. learn from it. Stay strong. 

love. 

Jessica.