Soooooo, nothing much new to post, I'm pretty much just writing out of boredom.

So Steven and I finished our two trips back to Edmonton this summer. It was really nice and sometimes I really don't know what we are doing in kansas city at all.....everyone we care about lives in edmonton. I hate to complain ... but I'm not doing so well right now. Not that happy to be down here really. Other than that tonight I have an awkward situation that I must deal with. So. Here it is: One lady from Steven's coworkers wives invited Steve and I to taco dinner and uno playing with some olympic watching I'm sure. The trouble is I just got a phone call from another one of the wives who was clearly not invited to taco and uno night, and invited Steven and I to a movie. I hate it when I'm the one who has to deal with other people not inviting eachother to whatever.

It has been really nice weather down here. Not too hot at all, and not really even that humid can you believe it! I almost cannot since it has been unbearable since May. It makes me really excited and I have been outside a lot more now.

I went to the pet store yesterday out of boredom to visit some puppies. Steven and I have discussed it and we cannot have any pets while we live in this tiny apartment and also while we don't live in Edmonton. (For various traveling and other reasons.) But I saw some "Morkies" (Yorkshire Terriers and Maltese crosses) a Dashund, a "Bichi-poo" (Bichon Fries and Poodle) ...that thing was the cutest most fluffiest thing you ever saw. Also a shetland sheepdog puppy and two Puggles! Puggles are apparently "designer dogs" meaning you specifically mix (in this case) one beagle and one pug to make a litter of puggles! There are no puggles making puggles I guess, this is a rule for some reason. Puggles are ridiculously cute! wow. I will have to keep them high on my list for particular dog breeds that I like.

So anyway, that is a puggle for your information. Try to control yourself before you call up the nearest breeder and arrange a similarily adorable creature to be yours.

I wish I could have a dog....someday though that would be nice.

Anyway, I got nothin. Hopefully I can get back into blogging....

A fraudulent scheme and a rat to redeem....

Last night Steven and I scoured the internet searching for pets that wouldn't require as much responsibility as a dog. I have been really wanting a dog since we got here, but it just doesn't seem to make any sense with all the travelling that we need and want to do. A cat would be the perfect fit considering their independance and their need for attention being much less than a dog. Except that my whole entire family is allergic to cats and to have them over to our house would require them to be on allergy medication....making them not feel good or like themselves.

The pets we looked at (and laughed at) were birds and rodents.....we first looked at parrots, and then doves, a canary, and even a pigeon! (coo coo coo!) Then we were looking at guinea pigs, hamsters, and ..........RATS???? What???? Here in the states you can own rats as pets??!!! Oh yes you can! And they are extremely intelligent! Apparently, according to Wikipedia and other information on-line, you can train a rat to come when it is called, do tricks, and be litter trained! Apparently it is common to have pet rats that do not bite you and so you can sit and cuddle with them! (lol) So, Steven looks at me with this totally interested face...and I was a little shocked because I know what he is thinking! He wants a rat!

Apparently they are sanitary because they are domesticated and looked after. They are bred in clean sanitary conditions and are not picked up off the street or anything. The wild rats are different than these pet rats (according to Wikipedia) So they get their shots just like dogs and cats do! You still keep them in a cage and bring them out to run in their ball and hold them just like you would treat a hamster....except that they come when they are called! (how cool is that??!!) I am thinking I would like to have a canary.....I'm not totally sold on the rat idea, not totally against it either. But we would have to sneak that rat into Alberta! We would have an illegal pet! Sounds kind of on the dangerous side......

Your thoughts on this matter would be appreciated!

Confusing Communion in a Strange Denomination!

A long long time ago (yesterday ) in a land far far away (Kansas City) two seasoned experts on the practises of Communion entered into a strange denomination of which communion is only a shadow of the CRC.....

Ok, so yesterday was sunday and that time of the month....(no not that) It was communion at church! SO....

SCENES FROM LAST SUNDAY:

Narrator: The Pastor's wife introduced herself to Jessica and Steven after church and learned about their situation. She was interested about the fact that they had been married a mere 3 weeks at that point and was curious to know more about us. She then asked....

Pastor's Wife (Giovanni): So did you go to any other church's since you have been here?
Steven: I went before Jess came to a Luthuren Church.
Pastor's Wife (Giovanni): Oh, how did you like it?
Steven: Well it was ok, it was a little weird, the Pastor sang the litergy and the whole congregation all drank out of the same communion cup.
Pastor's Wife (Giovanni): Oh, Ok, (laughing) so you didn't like that.....
Steven: I didn't do communion because it was a little too weird for me at the time...
Narrator: Steven, Jessica and the Pastor's wife continued to talk and it was a friendly conversation indeed.

THIS WEEK AT THE SUNDAY SERVICE:

Narrator: Steven and Jessica enter the church and converse with members of the congregation. Topics such as bible Study, babies, Kansas City University winning their previous game- (college basketball) were all discussed. After the congregation sits down and the service begins....Steven and I notice something at the front......something on a table.....something I hadn't done since I was in Edmonton....something looked a little off.....Could it be.....no wait.....it couldn't! BUT IT WAS!

A Half Loaf of Bread and a SINGLE CUP OF GRAPE JUICE adorned the table for COMMUNION!

Steven looked at me....and I looked at him....it was pretty obvious. This communion was going to be a weird one.

Steven just couldn't believe that he had said all those opinions about communion at last weeks service without experiencing communion here first.

So the worship starts and then ends (it was lovely) and the sermon begins and finishes off (very powerful....meaningful...) and then it started. Communion. And I have done Communion many times....but never like this. I was very concerned I was going to get sick! What if I got a cold sore! So then the Pastor organizes people to stand around the table at about 8 at one time.....Steven and I happened to be in one of the front rows....so we went first with a few other people. So they passed the loaf around and you were supposed to rip off a piece. So we did that. We were very much concentrating on the bread and passing it around when to my surprise I saw the big silver cup of juice coming my way! I quickly downed the bread and Steven did as well....we both looked at eachother and I took the cup in my hands, raised it to my lips and took a sip....and Steven gave me this nervous awkward look and took a sip as well.....wWell, when we passed it to the next person they

dipped
their
bread
in
the
juice
HOW EMBARRASSING! Yeah, so we were the only ones to sip the juice (we had no bread left to dip anyway) and everyone else very sanitarily dipped the bread in and then ate it........we walked back to our seats and Steven could not stop laughing. He was shaking our bench! He just could not stop thinking about the fact that we sipped out of that cup and that everyone else had dipped the bread! We poisoned everyone with our germs! We also were laughing that we were the crazy Canadians who thought that this possibly wasn't a communion but a lunch and left the communion table full of bread and juice mustaches around our mouths like children....

Nobody mentioned it to us afterward....but we were still laughing about it after the service....I guess I'm going to watch and listen more closely the next time I'm in a strange church and communion begins in a strange way....

oh good grief!

This is a picture from my bachelorette with all the cousins! Thought I would throw that in here with the rest of my random post!

Read what I accidentally almost posted on someone's wall. If you read it carefully, it makes me sound so crazy!

"Yeah, school is all done and I graduated from Grant MacEwan from the Social Work program. I worked after school till I got married in a group home and now I technically can't work here at all! "

It makes it sound like I got married in a group home, and not only that I got married in a group home, but because I did, I cannot work in the States! So there is some mixed up thought process! Good thing I read that before I sent that out! When I read it after I wrote it I burst out laughing! How embarrassing! I will be asked if I had the ceremony in a group home, and what kind of a person would do that anyway? So strange. So there is a mistake for you to laugh at!

Today Steven and I had lunch, I made him a lunch and brought it over to him. It was pretty tasty and Steven ate whole wheat brown bread! I was pretty excited about that. Although the bread here is considerably sweeter here than in Canada, it is something that I keep noticing.

Also, the drivers are so angry all the time! Everybody honks at eachother, and it's not like Canada, people here honk ALL the time for anything! driving too close, not moving exactly when the light is green, all that kind of stuff. Makes me a very scared pedestrian. Although I wouldn't compare it to the Carribean countries who just honk their horn for honking sake, the people here are actually pissed!

So two American insights for the day. The bread here is made with more sugar, and the drivers are considerably more angry than in Edmonton.

trampolining in ardrossan>trampolining in St Albert

maybe this is bad....posting out of sheer boredom. It's late, I should probably go to bed. Well not that late, but late enough to make me feel like I'm wasting my time doing anything but sleep. So I am house sitting......for my parents! Weird I know. I moved back home till the middle of next week while they are away. It's kinda weird. (I already said that.) Anyway. Here I am back in ardrossan feeling extremely isolated. Some things about living on an acreage are so incredibly awesome. Like jumping on a trampoline - slightly awkward in the city. If you jump, somebody WILL see you from their window. So you, jumping on your trampoline are feeling awkward because you know that someone is watching you. Not only is someone watching you, but they are probably just staring, perhaps judging you. But today I jumped on my trampoline in ardrossan and nobody saw me. I had fun and Steve joined me, and I didn't feel watched. Well, there are also other great things about living on an acreage but I pretty much am sick of writing this blog. I seriously have to go to sleep!

Bummed

So things at the bank haven't really been working out. The person who helped me got sick and so I won't have the money till next week even though I have the car in mind that I want to buy and am waiting to buy it - if only I actually could! Anyway, I can't move out this weekend either even though everything is totally packed up in my room (it's so weird.) So I'm a little bummed.

Update on a busy life...

Wow, I didn't realize how much time had passed since writing the last blog! Anyway, thank you laura for the reminder! I have my job, and it requires me to work most evenings. I know that this is pretty sucky, but it is a little bit ok considering a lot of evening stuff requires very little paperwork and just includes making supper and taking the kids out to fun events like swimming, bowling, fort edmonton, playgrounds, and other fun things. I have had my first 12 hour shift already and it really wasn't that bad either, even though it was quite long. This saturday I have another 12 hour shift from 10-10. blah. Oh well. Hopefully I can put in my time and can hope for better hours in the future. The kids that I have worked with primarily are pretty great kids. I have worked at three different group homes so far and they have all been so diverse. I think that is what I like the most out of this job. Although one day I did come home angry and upset at the night that had happened. It involved some grade sixer's ganging up on me! ha ha, it was pretty horrible, but I have some new skills on how to handle it....I don't know if it's going to work but it is what the boss said to use! So I am going to be busting out the new Jess with skills never seen before. Don't you wish you could just watch me in action? ...at 10pm at night? Moving on. I almost have a car. yah, almost. As in another person who needs to help me has a emergency leave of absense! AUGH! Even though it has only happened twice, once from my new job and once for getting money from the bank to buy my car, it seems like it has happened way too many times! So hopefully I actually get my answer tomorrow like they said and buy the car tomorrow, otherwise.....man oh man. Moving on again. I am moving out this weekend.....if the bank will let me. If the car will promise not to break down (It's a 94 grand am) Every time I think about writing a blog about my life I feel so burdened knowing there is so much to write about! Anyway, now that it is done, I should finish up with some other big news: Steven graduated last week from Computing Science from the UofA with Distinction! My boyfriend is the smartest. Anyway, I should probably stop writing now.

work? car? home?

Well, the organization I plan to work with has been kinda messing things up, after 700 phone calls every day this week I finally found out why they haven't phoned me. Someone had to leave for the week and left my papers on their desk. Anyway, now I don't start till Tuesday which is good, but it has still been 2 weeks now since I came back from my trip, and not working. Not to mention I didn't work the two weeks before I left because no one would hire me if I was leaving right away. This also makes it impossible to move out or get a car. So moving out will have to wait, (I'm thinking about 2 weeks) and trying to buy a car is now in full swing. I will have to see how this new job goes, two of my friends working in a group home quit on their 2nd and 3rd shifts. So this is not good encouragement. At least I have solace knowing that there are tons of jobs out there, the only issue is how much people pay, which generally in social work, is not very good.

Last night we had a baby shower for Steven's cousins new baby girl! I got her the cutest dress with lady bugs on it and this super soft yellow outfit thingy. It was really nice and while we were there I found out she has a blog! I was so excited, so I'm going to be adding her to my cool person's list! Everyone there was also talking about facebook quite a bit and how it is not restricted by age, everybody has facebook now and it's awesome! Yes, I quite like facebook and blogger. I think its great that people can write things for other people to read, it makes for a very inclusive life.

I've got the wedding day jitters, but I'm not getting married

This post is just for christine! you have GOT to write at least one blog before your wedding day! You just gotta! It only has to be a sentence about how you are excited and busy! Please?????? We wanna know!

My great weekend!

I had a great weekend! Starting on Friday at Field Placement, I helped lead through several classes with the men's addiction and rehabilitation program! It was scary and yet very satisfying. Using the basic couseling skills we learn in school I was able to be the one in charge on Friday and I felt respected by the men there and effective. It's funny because the age range of these men go from 60-late 20's and sometimes I just think, I'm 21, never done drugs, female, and I am able to handle (with help) a men's addictions group! How exciting! Anyway, I went and talked to my Field Placement supervisor from the women's program that I was apart of for most of this year and she told me some profound things about being a counselor and how group process works.

Also on friday, I went to Starbucks to meet with my Field Placement Supervisor and I had $1.37 in my pocket. I went up to the Starbucks and asked if there was anything for about that much, and she just said, what do you want? I told her that if I didn't have enough it would be ok, and she just said what do you want? She eventually convinced me, and even the customers waiting in line were asking "how much are you short?" So I ordered a shaken iced tea passion fruit and it was so delicious! This is a must have when it comes to Starbucks drinks! Anyway, it turns out that those ladies gave me the biggest size and I seriously could have cried it was so sweet! They just said, make sure to do something nice to someone else in the future and I assured them I would! I think one of the other touching details of the story is that it was in one of the roughest neighborhoods in town. Seriously rough. And it's interesting how that would never happen in downtown....it really says something about the quality of people we have living in edmonton.

Ok, so saturday I went and bought christine's bridal shower gift and other gifts and it was the best! You know I LOVE buying gifts for people especially when they have a list of everything they might want at the store, it makes my shopping experience so great! And honestly I love the bride I was shopping for and she is so easy going and low maitenance when it comes to keeping her happy. She appreciates everything! It was a good experience. Saturday night I went to a group of tired friends from school and we talked and played games and it was so much fun, although we were so tired that the evening ended rather early because of that!

Then there was sunday, church, and then the bridal shower and that was just a blast. We played the toilet paper bride, and played a quiz about how well you know the couple's love story. It was a great day, one of my favorite parts was a speach from her aunt about being married, it included expectations and reality, the beautiful parts of being married and how to make it work. Another good part was when all the married women said something to christine about either how to make it work, what they wished they had known, or anything to look forward to. Some good stuff came out of that conversation, and it was said several times that having a Christ centered marriage is the most important thing. I really appreciate all that kind of stuff. It was a really nice party!

It was a great weekend!

Steven's teeth

This picture is totally ridiculous! ha ha. thanks tab. I'm just doing more homework. I didn't go to class today. It was the greatest. And I got a lot done. Steven is getting all four wisdom teeth out today so I'm making him jello. I'm making pink jello and then putting whipping cream in the shape of a big tooth. Or maybe a big mouth iwth teeth and draw a tongue. Anyway, I thought I would put those 7-11 candies on top, those candies that are teeth and gums.....pretty funny. But he won't be able to eat the candies... Poor Steve.

Peace Out Pepsi!!!!

Tab came over yesterday and took some pictures and it was so much fun! Steven was really apprehensive about the photo shoot saying it was lame and stupid going in, I think he thought it was going to be a lot like walmart where I would sit in a chair and he would put one hand on my shoulder, and I would fold my hands in my lap and we would fake smile for a while.....but it turns out that Tab just let us have some fun while she took some pictures! She is going away to Switzerland for a year and since she has always offered me and Steve a photo shoot, we finally took advantage of it and it was really awesome! So, a picture of me and Steve rockin out and pepsi simpson.....a.k.a......hottest dawg on the planet. Peace out!

p.s. there are more pictures hopefully to come.

READING WEEK!

AHHHH! Reading week is FINALLY here! Now I can have a chance to have some fun and complete some projects that really badly needed to be finished and write some papers I didn't have time for.... So far to celebrate I have had a family day with Steve's dad's side of the family, gone out to cook my absolute favorite bar and danced the night away, (the last time I went out it was september), my highschool girlfriends and I had a get together last night, and cleaned up some things that I had ignored since christmas....so I'm feeling pretty good besides the fact that I'm physically sick but that doesn't really matter because I don't feel guilty about not going to school or field placement when there is none to go to! woooooowooooooo! I have asked Steve to phone me at 12 and ream me out if the project that I am working on is not done by then because I set a goal to be done by 12:00pm! Better get crackin on it, otherwise if Steve reads this blog after he reams me out I'm going to get another phone call....and it won't be pretty. Other than the fact that I hate school, these breaks are quite luxurious. There is no way that if I was working full time I would be able to have a spring break, a christmas break, and a november break, not to mention the fact that I only have at the most 6 hours of class a day.....much better than working, oh who am I kidding I would way rather be working. But I am thankful for the breaks, it's just that when you have so much over your head it is incredibly difficult to enjoy them. For the most part, I am enjoying these breaks.....even though technically I am just doing homework from 10 in the morning till 4......so I'm still working but I am at home and can do stuff in the evenings and no homework is due......ahhhhhhhhhhhhh! My current mood is very happy.

"free" spa package

I went to bridal fantasy with my cousin because she is getting married soon. We signed up for all the draws that they were having, watched the fashion show and then left. A few weeks later I get a phone call saying that I had won a "spa" package. I then found out that a lady would come to my house and provide the products so we could do it ourselves and that I should invite 4- 10 friends. Now I'm annoyed. I don't want to host anything because at this point in time I really can't afford anything. I especially won't be buying any spa stuff. Anyway, I got all excited because I thought I won a trip to a spa, but instead I got to have the chance of someone coming to my house and trying to sell me something. Which is not nearly as fun. I should probably clarify that when I actually want to host a party like that, they are quite a bit of fun, and it is usually stuff that I want to buy, so that is a lot different. In this case, I bet they took everyone's name who entered the "draw" and just used it to try and sell stuff. How annoying! And this is a picture of the ultimate in beauty sales ladies that I decided needed to be put up:

what a ridiculous conversation starter

You know what is really ridiculous? Having the same name as someone famous. Really really ridiculous. You know what's even more ridiculous? The fact that people compare you to this famous person even though under only these circumstances would anyone ever compare me to this famous person. I get a whole aray of responses to this fact. I remember when she first became famous. I was in grade 7 and my grade 6 teacher comes up to me and asks, "did I just hear you on the radio?" I was so confused and answered "no." Soon after that I realized that there was a famous person with the same name as me. Some kids in my class liked to tease me about it, and I really didn't mind. I figured that she would be a short lived phase that would pass. So many people asked me if my parents had named me after her. My response would always be "no" and say something like she only became famous a few years ago, that would make me 4 years old if they had. Trust me, the snarky comments that I write in this blog are not my actual responses they are only my thoughts. I don't own any of her cd's and I actually don't care for her music really, but I definitly don't hate her, I also don't mind when her song comes on the radio, I would never purchase any of her music is all. I thought it would be cool if I did like her music but I definitly don't. There were a few boys who wanted to date me for novelty purposes "I dated JS" but that never worked out for them. Except I think Steven might want a shirt that says "I'm dating JS" at least after 2 years I know it's not just for novelty purposes. When I was working in customer service or when I go to Safeway where the cashier's can find out your name, I get so many "how's Nick?" and "is your sister named ashley?" haw.........haw. Then there are some pissed responses like people might think that I'm trying to be smart when I sign up for something or give my name for surveys and they just roll their eyes, and I'm like, augh! I'm not trying to be a smart ass! I'm not trying to conceal my real name, that is my real name! I was worried that when I went into college that people might give me a real hard time, then I talked to a few people and they said, oh don't worry, nobody's going to say anything. So then the teacher calls my name for attendance and I say "here" and the whole class, not even exaggerating points and laughs! I was like holy crap! On the whole, having this ridiculous name has been positive. It's a great ice breaker, and people always like to say that they know me! (I know JS) ha ha. I definitly don't hate it because one day it will be gone, and then I will be a plain normal-named person. Well, that's depressing! lol, not really, I'm looking forward to people not being shocked at my name and having it be so easy to remember (for confidentiality reasons.) Anyway, that day is not coming for awhile so I have some more time with this ridiculous name of mine and I'm going to have some fun with it!
(p.s. I abbreviated my name to be confidential but I'm really not too sure it worked with that giant picture I put at the top.)

A very dirty buick = unwelcome company

So the most ridiculous thing happened this past weekend! On friday night Steven dropped me off at my house, and just as we were going up the driveway, a MOOSE jumped out in front of us! It was rather scary and Steve was so scared that he had to come through MY door to the house because the moose was staring us down! The next morning I go outside to my car and I see all these smudges all over it! My car was super dirty and it wasn't till later that I realized that not only was there dirt on my car, but there was also ROAD SALT! THE MOOSES WERE LICKING MY CAR. So apparently my dad says he saw two mooses hanging around my car the night before. My car is completly disgusting. There is tongue marks and dirt all over the windows, trunk, front, headlights, and DOORKNOBS! (sick! moose saliva on my door handle!) They licked my headlights clean and I no longer need my brights on to shine through the dirt. Well, that is definitly natures hint for me to wash my car! Sorry for the lack of picture, I don't have a camera handy in the daylight hours, but I will arange this and hopefully post the picture soon! So you think that I might have learned my lesson by now, but the car is still a filthy mess and now I like showing off the lick marks. I tell the story to everyone I know, and now you, dear reader, have heard as well!

After having written the most unpopular post so far, I feel I need to redeem myself after such bad reviews (yes, there has been some bad reviews.) I have gotten no comments at all and this made me realize that my audience, although it is small, indeed has influence over what I write. There is some pressure to conform, and what the heck, why not! Do expect, however, some more of my social worky opinions as I am currently in the program and can't help but let my current thoughts on issues spill out onto my blog. This has been some of my feed back:

• I didn't like that post Jess


• It sounded really feminist


• Write about better and happier things

Just to let you know that conference is not about encouraging feminist values on women, just an information time to get involved in government if anyone ever wanted to.

That being said, I'm going to be busy tonight doing homework and reading text books. And to all you people who read my blog and never comment, you make me look uncool....*cough* marla.

This is me being a model for one of Tab's assignments. If you want to check out examples of her awesome artistry and amazing eye for all things photographical go to www.myspace.com/delightfullyeccentric !!!

BLIZZARD

Isn't this weather incredible???? Not in a good way though. I turned on the radio this morning and the report was that people were sliding backwards on Dawson's Bridge road because it's so slippery, and that is the road that I take. Not only that but just about EVERY road to get into down town from the east is quite steep so I figured even if I had found an alternate route I would probably still be screwed. The roads were so bad I didn't go to my field placement today. Wednesdays although are generally uneventful, except for that time I went bungee jumping, (I wrote about it in a previous post). Today is a great day to do laundry and clean which is what I have been doing and it feels good. I also am going to do my first assignment that is due in a week from now! I counted it out and I have 18 assignments due this term, the bulk of them are due at the end of March. Even though I could try to start early, lets face it, I have always been a procrastinator and deciding to suddenly try my best might be a shock to the system so I plan on taking it easy. Snow is pretty, but it's always a little bit depressing and worrisome (is that how you spell that??) I find that I'm always worrying (holy cow, I'm horirble at spelling.) about the roads not just when I drive but when other people drive. I always get stressed when I drive in the snow because it is so easy to spin out, especially in miss buick. Hopefully everyone has safe drives to and from wherever they go and that everyone takes it easy! I hope that everyone takes advantage of these snow days and enjoys the great indoors! Drink some tea! Sit near your fire place! Read a book or do a puzzle! Clean your house! (that's not that relaxing, but sometimes people just don't have time when life gets busy, and if your forced to be at home, why not?) lol, can you tell I'm pumped to be at home?

DONE-ZO!!!! and now its quincey time!

Well, I'm done and I can hardly believe it. That was really really tough, way tougher than semester's that have passed. But it is all totally over!. ....well, until January 3rd, thats when I go back for my last semester. So today Steve picked me up from the SA and I helped him and Gregg, Snake, Jason, and Devon build a snow fort/quincy! Steve made me go inside of it and I was scared. The tunnel to the way in was very small, but you could actually sit up inside of it! Then I put some rocks around the outside of the mouth of the tunnel, but you can't see that in the pictures. So I guess I'm going out for a celebratory dinner tonight and some relaxation! I cannot wait to begin the greatest holiday season EVER!!!!!