Finding Jessica

trying to reach that essential plateau of hopeless wonderment associated with achieving the ultimate inspiration...

So I will turn to the place we all should, no matter the religion or degree of spirituality, you have a book, or a chant, or a prayer you can use. Or a wish, or a litany.

I should be working, so I will put my book here, so that I may free my mind for another hour, another minute...free my heart from things I want but cannot have, have but do not want, want but cannot reach. Today. For now.

1 Corinthians 13 from the NIV
One of my favorites...


1 If I speak in the tongues[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

An actually touching chain e-mail I got at work today...pictures to come later


The wedding.




Her name is Katie Kirkpatrick, 21 yrs old. Next to her is her fiancé, Nick, 23. This picture was taken prior to their wedding January 11th, 2005. Katie has terminal cancer and spends hours in chemotherapy. Here Nick awaits while she finishes one of the sessions...







Even in pain and dealing with her organs shutting down, with the help of morphine, Katie took care of every single part of the wedding planning. Her dress had to be adjusted several times due to Katie 's constant weight loss.







An expected guest was her oxygen tank. Katie had to use it during the ceremony and reception. The other couple in this picture is Nick's parents, very emotional with the wedding and to see their son marrying the girl he fell in love when he was an adolescent.







Katie, in a wheel chair listening to her husband and friends singing to her.





In the middle of the party, Katie had to rest for a bit and catch her breath. The pain does not allow her to stand for long period of time.



Katie died 5 days after her wedding. To see a fragile woman dress as bride with a beautiful smile makes you think... Happiness is always there within reach, no matter how long it lasts. Lets enjoy life and don't live a complicated life. Life is too short.

Work as if it was your first day. Forgive as soon as possible.



Love without boundaries. Laugh without control and never stop smiling. Please pray for those suffering from cancer.

Keep this going.

This I think is the funniest one os all...omg...Adell you will love this, Lena don't freak, and somebody call Tasha and tell her to watch!!!!

So...does your pee ever smell like that cereal, Smacks? Well, I guess the name is longer than that, hold please..............



Okay, so NOW I think you know what I mean, lol.

Well, sometimes my pee smells like this weird-as-crap cereal...does that mean there is to much sugar in it??? That would surely explain the extra 15 pounds I'm carrying around here...I mean, sometimes its another cereal, like honey nut chereos, but usually this one...any one else out there with that problem...?!

I dunno, maybe I'm crazy, but this totally wasn't the first time. I hope people read this one. And like, agree or disagree. Not that I'm into pee or anything. NO. Seriously, not. Not even a little. Not even really when its in a toilet...but it should stay there until flushed. Period.

But Smacks, though? Any thoughts on that one?!

Okay, done being weird, gonna pretend to work now.

Oh, and this one is pretty funny. (look down...not at your crotch, at the picture below, duh)

The funniest freakin thing I've come across by accident on youtube...seriously...

Lizzy the Lezzy

(embedding coming soon)

...hard. ANd actually working hard!

Thoughts keep creeping up though...I can't help missing someone I never had...and now they're so far away...its hard to see good friends go, I guess.

The JERK cut the check(s) on 9/10 and decided there was no reason to tell me both this and the fact that he sent them to the OFFICE!!! What kind of idiot-man-boy...well, the point is that I know have my money, and he can go and stick a rusted-barbed-wire vibrator where the sun don't shine and let the door hit him where the good Lord split him while he's at it.

You know, its amazing how some people believe that one good act followed by many stupid bad ones makes them just an all-around amazing wonderful and helpful person...and that makes anyone that's not them ungrateful. Well guess what...? Guess what Travis Lewis? I am extremely ungrateful for all of the stress, headache, and general unhappiness that working with your sketchy company has brought me. No wonder your office is currently almost entirely made up of brand-spanking-new or borrowed employees...and why your own liasons don't want to touch you with a 10-foot pole...but I pray for those at your fiscal mercy, and for their sanity, and your peace of mind.

WELL, ahhhh! Now that that's all taken care of...! Can't wait to tackle that payroll in the morning! Gotta get a good night's sleep! Want to have everything done for the return of my bosses on thursday...OH! And I cannot forget to

wordpress is stupid, but here's my latest and greatest...I'm trudging on only to say I did, not because I'm beginning to like it. Can you believe it costs $15/year to really personalize your page?! Absurdity! Oh, and the coding is wayyyy harder than this! At least HTML makes sense when you think it does, and doesn't trick you in to thinking that you've got it all figured out!!!!

You know, I've made up a kinda cute new wordpress blog for everyday since this was supposed to just be for traveling, but I must say wordpress is such a stinker! So dern complicated to do the simplest things, and it takes MUCH longer to load everything too! Well, I may continue it, I may not...maybe I just need that new sony vaio and a better internet connection, lol.

Well, I'M EMPLOYED AGAIN!!! Yayy! I start tomorrow, so geeze mom don't even worry, I was barely over a week without a job! ;-)

Also....my former employer apparountly "found" the error in his ways/judgement/mental function and decided that he DID in fact owe me $dinero$ and I've got one check and have to wait for the rest in the MAIL!!?!?!! What is THAT about...well, I'm getting my money and I've got a full time job in payroll now so things are peachy keeny, ya know? All I want to do is nicely (and on timey) pay my billsand have a car that will RUN and take me from POINT A to POINT B without any interruptions...I miss my mazda tribute sooooooo badly...i think I'm gonna throw in the towel and just get another when I finally get my settlement...I really loved that vehicle, it was just sooooo......me. Well, about to work out some finances, sooooo....until later.

Oh, and the phrase "wordpress blog" above is a hyperlink to the blog in case you couldn't tell. ;-)

An e-mail from my pale pale friend...

Garage Door

The boss walked into the office one morning not knowing his zipper
was down and his fly area wide open. His assistant walked up to him
and said, 'This morning when you left your house, did you close your
garage door?' The boss told her he knew he'd closed the garage door,
and walked into his office puzzled by the question.

As he finished his paperwork, he suddenly noticed his fly was open,
and zipped it up. He then understood his assistant's question about
his 'garage door.'

He headed out for a cup of coffee and paused by her desk to ask,
'When my garage door was open, did you see my Hummer parked in there?'
She smiled and said, 'No, I didn't. All I saw was an old minivan
with two flat tires..
________________________________

An elderly gentleman....
Had serious hearing problems for a number of years. He went to the
doctor and the doctor was able to have him fitted for a set of hearing
aids that allowed the gentleman to hear 100%
The elderly gentleman went back in a month to the doctor and the
doctor said, 'Your hearing is perfect.. Your family must be really
pleased that you can hear again.'
The gentleman replied, 'Oh, I haven't told my family yet.
I just sit around and listen to the conversations. I've changed my
will three times!'
________________________________

Two elderly gentlemen from a retirement center were sitting on a bench
under a tree when one turns to the other and says: 'Slim, I'm 83 years
old now and I'm just full of aches and pains. I know you're about my
age. How do you feel?'
Slim says, 'I feel just like a newborn baby.'
'Really!? Like a newborn baby!?'
'Yep. No hair, no teeth, and I think I just wet my pants.'
________________________________

An elderly couple had dinner at another couple's house, and after
eating, the wives left the table and went into the kitchen.
The two gentlemen were talking, and one said, 'Last night we went out
to a new restaurant and it was really great.. I would recommend it
very highly.'
The other man said, 'What is the name of the restaurant?'
The first man thought and thought and finally said, 'What is the name
of that flower you give to someone you love?
You know.... The one that's red and has thorns.'
'Do you mean a rose?'
'Yes, that's the one,' replied the man. He then turned towards the
kitchen and yelled, 'Rose, what's the name of that restaurant we went
to last night?'

Hospital regulations require a wheel chair for patients being
discharged. However, while working as a student nurse, I found one
elderly gentleman already dressed and sitting on the bed with a
suitcase at his feet, who insisted he didn't need my help to leave the
hospital.
After a chat about rules being rules, he reluctantly let me wheel him
to the elevator.
On the way down I asked him if his wife was meeting him.
'I don't know,' he said. 'She's still upstairs in the bathroom
changing out of her hospital gown.'
________________________________

Couple in their nineties are both having problems remembering things.
During a checkup, the doctor tells them that they're physically okay,
but they might want to start writing things down to help them remember
..
Later that night, while watching TV, the old man gets up from his
chair. 'Want anything while I'm in the kitchen?' he asks.
'Will you get me a bowl of ice cream?'
'Sure..'
'Don't you think you should write it down so you can remember it?' she asks.
'No, I can remember it.'
'Well, I'd like some strawberries on top, too. Maybe you should write
it down, so not to forget it?'
He says, 'I can remember that. You want a bowl of ice cream with strawberries.'
'I'd also like whipped cream. I'm certain you'll forget that, write it
down?' she asks.
Irritated, he says, 'I don't need to write it down, I can remember it!
Ice cream with strawberries and whipped cream - I got it, for goodness
sake!'
Then he toddles into the kitchen. After about 20 minutes, The old man
returns from the kitchen and hands his wife a plate of bacon and
eggs.. She stares at the plate for a moment.
'Where's my toast ?'
________________________________

A senior citizen said to his eighty-year old buddy:
'So I hear you're getting married?'
'Yep!'
'Do I know her?'
'Nope!'
'This woman, is she good looking?'
'Not really.'
'Is she a good cook?'
'Naw, she can't cook too well.'
'Does she have lots of money?'
'Nope! Poor as a church mouse.'
'Well, then, is she good in bed?'
'I don't know.'
'Why in the world do you want to marry her then?'
'Because she can still drive!'
________________________________

Three old guys are out walking.
First one says, 'Windy, isn't it?'
Second one says, 'No, it's Thursday!'
Third one says, 'So am I. Let's go get a beer..'
________________________________

Morris, an 82 year-old man, went to the doctor to get a physical.
A few days later, the doctor saw Morris walking down the street with a
gorgeous young woman on his arm.
A couple of days later, the doctor spoke to Morris and said, 'You're
really doing great, aren't you?'
Morris replied, 'Just doing what you said, Doc: 'Get a hot mamma and
be cheerful.''
The doctor said, 'I didn't say that.. I said, 'You've got a heart
murmur; be careful.'
_______________________________

One more. . .!

A little old man shuffled slowly into an ice cream parlor and pulled
himself slowly, painfully, up onto a stool... After catching his
breath, he ordered a banana split.
The waitress asked kindly, 'Crushed nuts?'
'No,' he replied, 'Arthritis.'

Now , before you 'forget', send them on to some other folks you know
who could use a good laugh !!

So ummm...Papa Johns pizza...ha ha ha

I still gotta find a good background for the new blog, anyways!

You know, I'm not sure how I feel about this dang ipad that I'm trying to post from in the apple store at crabtree. This is not a freaking qwerty keyboard!!! Driving me off the freaking wall!!! I must say though that the graphics are awesome, I'm sure it would be great fr movies and ibooks, and probably a great travel companion, though this keyboard is driving me CRAZY!!!

Still it's no replacement for a computer, not even close, and I still want the Sony Vaio that I fell for atBest Buy.....soon, soon.

Oh, and after some deep cleaning in the apartment perhaps I will a recipe from one of the books I bought at the flea...

It is really best to find books with character, history, and life yet to give at the flea market. And so cheap! Four cookbooks for $5! Maybe the journey begins.

My my my! How it does fly...I'm already 23 years old. I still look under 18, I haven't graduated college yet (hey, don't judge me, LIFE HAPPENS!) and I'm living alone (mostly...I don't think Magic or Marco count, ha ha) and car-less and well short on lots of things.

Where did we imagine ourselves today ten years ago? Where are our friends and loved ones?

Well, wedding pictures of Mom and Donald coming soon, I always seem to forget the camera to load the pictures, lol. Can anyone tell how hard it is for me to hold a thought? lol

Well, there was supposed to be a purpose to this post...hmmm...life is going I suppose, we'll see about how well it is going. Hopefully I will not have to take my now previous employer to court but we shall see there...and hopefully I will have my full rent...whatever that is...before the 10th...and hopefully I will have an interview ASAP because that would be VERY VERY nice, would it not? Hopefully the jerk who totaled my car (or his insurance) will be forced to pay out the behind for ruining my 2010, then i will finally be able to get a new car (hopefully).

Hmmm...word of the day... H O P E F U L L Y

HOPEFULLY Lena's wedding will become something to make her smile
HOPEFULLY Adell's relationship will be everything she believes it is and wants it to be
HOPEFULLY I will figure out my relationship path and get married and make babies BEFORE my ovaries shrivel up and die (j/k...kinda)
HOPEFULLY everything works out financially...soon
HOPEFULLY the lawsuit is over soon and I can resume my life and future

HOPEFULLY HOPEFULLY HOPEFULLY HOPEFULLY HOPEFULLY HOPEFULLY HOPEFULLY HOPEFULLY HOPEFULLY HOPEFULLY HOPEFULLY HOPEFULLY HOPEFULLY HOPEFULLY HOPEFULLY HOPEFULLY

Hope is a powerful thing...right?

It seems I have very little control over my life right now. The job market is a dud, I never filled out the FAFSA (silly chit, I know) so I have not a way to pay for school right now, nor do I have a vehicle to speak of. My mother was just married (¡felicitaciones!) and my best friend Lena is soon to follow…I’m glad she’s finally getting what she wants, in spite of her future monster-in-law…

Well, I hear my lawyer is putting through the request to the insurance company, I hope he still did his best, I have been keeping terrible contact with him due to, well…stress, a lack of internet at times, and just a lack of time or anything to say. My life still sucks, my back still sucks, and I think I eat even more than ever…I’ve gained 15 pounds reaching a number I never imagined possible! Well, before getting married and complacent and pregnant at least!

Enough about me…well, not really. It IS a blog about “finding Jessica”…well I happen to be at home in my apartment right now, with Magic and Marco and far too many thoughts and not enough channels, lol.

I think I just finished the first bouquet for the bridesmaids, but we shall see what will be done tomorrow, so I’m trying to keep my hands and poor little brain occupied so that I don’t accidentally fall into an abyss of the brain…I should probably put in a comedy of some sort.

So…my weight goal by October 30th (Lena’s wedding) is to weigh 110-112 lbs.

I will finish putting away my crap before Monday (the 6th of September…geeze where has this year gone?!)

I will finish putting in applications…any suggestions in the Triangle/RTP/Raleigh area let me know!

And I will start a project…after watching Julie & Julia I’m intrigued…would it work? What would it take? What should I do? I almost want to find Julia Childs’ cookbook and cook my way through it…it would take serious time and money, but…why not? I’ve never liked French food (besides French fries, ha ha) maybe it would change my mind…
Or maybe I could work my way through a healthy one to help control my little piggy appetite…or a Paula Dean one…or a foreign one since I do love to cook foreign foods…Turkish and Chilean and Dominican…so many possibilities…and so much food!

Hmmm…I suppose I should start a new blog for that one…and force friends to come over often to eat the food! I do live alone, and a fresh meal every day…I would need either a cookbook with fewer than 365 recipes or promises from friends to eat the food! I think I keep repeating that line…ha ha ha.

Well, all for now I suppose…

Mommy is getting hitched, whoooo! And I'm back int he search.....as well as neeeding $$$!!!

Oh, and sorry sweet spiky baby for getting frustrated with you sometimes...I love you.

The lair of the lotus eaters...fascinating story. Sometimes being in a euphoria-induced trance sounds wonderful...no worries forever. Just fun and food. . . . .

MAN! SO much has so much to do with time, right???

Such as right now, I will take the time to nap, maybe go ahead and get my hair done so that there is a good lag between the coloring process and doing it for mommy's wedding...

Then there is the TIME that needs to be put aside for mommy and the wedding itself...time to make her feel like the beautiful woman that she is and be sure that she knows that this special day is ALL ABOUT HER...

There is the time that needs to be spent working, can I get an amen???

There is the time needed to be spent with loved ones and four-legged things, bless their little catty and doggie souls...

There is the time needed for oneself...the time needed to consider how to tell someone something important...

Time needed to become yourself again! Eat right, work out, get that ideal (or old) body condition back, feel like yourself again, get the hairs and the nails and the feet and the legs and the face done...

WHERE DOES THE TIME GO?!?!

where do we go? where do we go when we need time? isn't time money?? don't we need time? but to have time we're wasting money? or making it? or to get time we need to make money which takes time, right????

;osahdfoirgnfsknlgwrkg?!?!?

Hahahaha, excuse my foreign talk, lmfmao, (that was an asian joke bud!)

Ahhhhh....nap time. Maybe I'll better to knowing what to doing with the rest of the times after my brains get the naps.

whaaa...?

There is just so gosh darn much of it. And I always want more. Well, let's get things moving and shaking! Oh, and get my freakin' life together too! Haha, the Cinderella with Brandi and Whitney Houston in it is perfect to go to sleep to, which I'm about to do so that I can get up early, avoid eviction with the help of my mother (thank you very much...oh, and its called paying rent, lol) and get some homework done in the form of lots of writing. Maybe walk the dog (far) if the sun is obliging (gone/not hot/not working)...oh, and finally finish unpacking what I can, seeing as how I need bookshelves to really put away the rest of the boxes...so many books...so many more that I don't have yet...OKAY, I'm going to sleep now.

I can't wait until this is a travel diary again. I guess that will have to wait until I find a new job. :-/

Why doesn't blogger have a smiley add-in deal? So useful...

Oh, and cute picture of 3/4 monkeys at Tasha's baby shower weekend in Maryland

So much is going on right now, and yet, right now, my heart is managing to be light, so I will refuse to weigh it down anymore tonight.

*Someone should find a cure for apthous ulcers*

A kiss is a lovely trick designed by nature to stop speech when words become superfluous.
Ingrid Bergman

It's been so long people...I know, what a disappointment, right? Well, every time I think about writing, there's just too much...too much to write, to do, to think about, to think about doing...I feel trapped inside my head most days, with no outlet. No place big enough, not enough time...my head is a vast and confusing place (the inside, you jokers...) and it has shaped me and my connections.

Anyways...enough thinking talk!

So my doggy Marco (short for Don Juan DeMarco) had his juevones chopped off on April 20, and he has recovered nicely from it. He really digs doggy aspirin which I gave him because the SPCA Saving Lives Clinic (which I highly suggest if you're poor or just low on animal-specific funds and need to prevent your cat or dog from reproducing) only gives 3 days of medication, which I had to shove down the poor little crazy dog's throat daily, and no one is in pain from surgery for only three days! Geeze...

Ah, spring semester is over, and was so fun and event filled that I will be taking a couple classes this summer and a few more in the spring that aren't offered in the summer.

And what was the biggest and funnest event?!?! Well, I believe it was when my beautiful new Mazda Tribute was totaled on my way to take an exam...evil Cadillac drivers and their sucky U-turns!!!!! Oh well, at least they'll have to pay for my doctor...and physical therapist...and chiropractor...

Well, that more or less updates me very vaguely, oh and MOMMY is getting MARRIED in August, yay! Go mom, and congrats mom and Donald (its the guy that fell for mom).

Oh, and my Grandma is the bestest ever ever and I love her to pieces despite the PITIFUL show of affection on Mother's Day from her ELEVEN children!!! Shame on you guys!

Paz.

(My life is CRAZY!!!)

Soooo...wow, so long since my last post! What has happened?

Well...I've moved (yay!) and I have a great new apartment that my animals are trying their DARNEST to destroy, lol. I love them anyways. Still have Magic and Marco, Marco is much calmer and more trained than ever...and his *nut* chopping appointment is coming up towards the end of APRIL!!!

I am now volunteering with Marley's Cat Tails, which I enjoy, and I'm also a foster mom for two brother kittens, Bang and Tango, until they are adopted, placed in a PetSmart location or just rotated to another home.

Two weeks ago yesterday (time flies!) I was in a car accident that totaled my car while on the way to an exam...thanks a million. WELL...don't get progressive insurance because they valued my fully loaded leather seat SUV that I've had less than a year for less than what I owed on it, so I'm up doodie creek without a stinkin paddle. Oh yeah, I have an extremely excellent lawyer though which I am filing personal injury and such against the driver who has helped make this the worst semester of my LIFE.

Oh, and its time I get the ball rolling with this making money thing...being poor sucks. Buttmonkeys.

----------

Life is just freakin' crazy right now...who knew I could get so low? Prayers are needed and asked for...hopefully I will soon have the opportunity to improve it, and pay all of my bills on my own...gosh this sucks. I've never had my life so far away from going according to plan.

I have to finish this later, I'm tired of writing. Until next time.

So, just to spread the word, I got my sweetie pie Magic (the gorgeous kitty pictured in the previous post) from Marley's Cat Tails, a non-profit organization geared towards saving and finding a forever home for kitties (and doggies!) in need!

They have Meet and Greet events every weekend at the Petsmart and Petco in Brier Creek shopping center in Raleigh/Durham. Check out their website!!!

www.marleyscattails.com

Soooo...internet situation has been ridiculous, so many updates are necessary!

First off, the moving date is Feb 17th, and mommy is coming to help, of course, with her new FIANCEÉ!!! (whooo, go mommma!)

Next off, my animal situation is crazy: Kisser, Pooper, Nieve, and Annamae (all fish) as well as my baby Magic Hat (aka Magic) the cat and the newest addition Don Juan DeMarco (aka Marco) a cute little wire-haired terrier that followed my roommate's boxer home and doesn't want to leave now! Just need to get his *nuts* chopped off then we'll have restored harmony!

Oh, and I've been doing horribly in my classes thus far, I can't wait to move to alleviate some of the stress and become the student I can be!

Well, that was a short update, but there are pictures! Oh, and ITS STILL SNOWING!!!! yay!

This is Marco, he's so cute!
 

 This is Magic, my sugar hunny!
 

Where are my fans from?