|
J_YODA
|
read my profile
sign my guestbook
Name: Jessica
Country: United States
State: California
Metro: Los Angeles
Birthday: 4/26/1982
Gender: Female
Interests: Chi Alpha, UCLA, people, magazines, soy lattes, ice cream, shopping, clearance sections, exercising
Expertise: laughing, laughing, and laughing
Occupation: Chi Alpha Campus Ministries
Message: message me
AIM:  xajess
MSN: xajess
Member Since:
11/17/2005
|
|
| Summer has arrived..... and I'm excited!!
I love the school year and all that comes along with it. In fact, it's been a tremendous year of Chi Alpha at UCLA and I am blessed to do what I do! Every new friend in my life has added much laughter and memories! But now it's time for a little change of pace as summer unfolds.
Next week I am going to Mosaic West Coast and I'm sure it's going to be a great conference!!
I will follow that with a 2 week mission trip to Haiti with other staff members and students. It's going to be great!
I also get to visit my lovely family in Missouri later this summer. With that, I receive a double blessing because my older brother, his wife, and my niece are moving back to Missouri (from Alabama) this month and I will get to spend time with them!!! I see them once a year usually and it's only for a couple of days, but hopefully from now on I will get to spend more quality time with them because they will live near my parents!
Then, to top it all off, my sister is coming back to LA with me and we are going to hang out for about a week. My sister is 16 and I miss her so much! We have a lot of fun together even though she's a lot younger than me. I'm sad that I have to miss out on all of her growing up but it will be great for us to spend some time together, just her and I.
Of course in between all of that there are ministry things to be done, preparations to be made, fundraising to do, people to meet with, and the usual summer tasks. Oh, and there's also the necessity of hitting the beach!
So I say... let the summer begin!! | | |
| You know LA is home when....
You say that it's cold when it's 60 degrees outside.
It's normal to leave windows open almost year-round.
You have come to expect to pay at least $2-5 for parking just to hit up your favorite restaurant, coffee shop, or mall.
You realize you can never have too many quarters... 8 minutes per quarter on campus!
It's normal to not understand the language that people around you are speaking.
You realize that $1500 in rent for a 2 bedroom apartment is actually a bargain.
You never think about the warmth that a pair of shoes or that a coat will provide.
Sometimes you think it takes too much time to drive to the beach and find parking.
You buy shoes for comfort instead of cuteness because you know you'll be walking alot.
It's normal to see James Franco around Westwood.
You are one of the few that listens to country music.
| | |
| There once was a day that I loved cooking. Growing up, it was normal to sit down to supper (that's what we always called it.... even though it's now "dinner" in my vocab) as a family. Of course as we got older we didn't always get to do that as often. My mom was a good cook and always provided tasty meals for us. She never enjoyed cooking though... she rarely whipped something up or baked something just for the fun of it. So in junior high and high school I did a lot of the cooking or at least helped with most of it. I loved it. I was always searching for new recipes. One summer we had so many zucchinis in our garden that I made all sorts of funky recipes out of zucchini. Zucchini pie (tastes like apple pie), zucchini brownies, zucchini casserole, fried zucchini, etc. But somewhere in the transitions of life and living on my own... I realized what a nuisance it is to cook for 1-2 people. When I was living in my first apartment in 2001, it was fun... I could just make whatever I wanted and eat whatever I wanted cause I was the only one eating it. But somewhere down the line I realized that my life is really busy and most of the time I don't feel like taking extra time to cook a good meal just for myself...and my roommate if she's at home. And then there is the part of buying all of the ingredients and wondering if it's worth it at times. Most of the time eating a sandwich just seems so much simpler. Of course I eat out with Chi Alphans quite a bit and that usually equals leftovers in my fridge.
After saying all of that... I have come to the conclusion that I still enjoy cooking when I have the time. When I have an evening with nothing on the agenda, I really like to make a good dinner. It doesn't have to be fancy or complicated... just a nice home-cooked meal. Or when I have a little more free time on the weekend, I sometimes try out a new dessert. Recently I made a plum fruit tart, which tasted somewhat like cherry pie. Tonight I tried out a recipe that a friend of a friend made for dinner awhile back. It's very simple, fairly cheap, and very tasty. So I thought I'd share it with you. And even you guys out there can handle this one! Oh and I made asparagus for the first time tonight! Nothing can go wrong when you use some butter and garlic!
Let me also say that I'm not a huge pasta fan... it's usually one of those meals that I rely on when I have nothing else to eat. Boil some noodles and toss in a jar of sauce and your good to go. But this pasta actually kinda impressed me!
1 lb pasta of your choice
2 cans of diced tomatoes (or you can use fresh tomatoes)
8 oz pkg cream cheese
fresh chopped basil (you can use dried also)
chopped onion (1/2 or whole onion...whatever you prefer)
olive oil
minced garlic
Start by putting olive oil in a skillet with onions and garlic. Cook until they are somewhat soft and then add your tomatoes. Let the tomatoes cook until pretty soft and heated thoroughly. While the tomatoes are cooking, you can boil the water and pasta. Next add the cream cheese to the tomato mixture, it is easier if you cut the cream cheese into smaller squares. After the cheese is mixed in, add in some basil and let it bubble awhile so that all of the flavors can come together. After the pasta is cooked and the sauce is finished, mix them together before serving. You can add parmesan or asiago cheese when you serve it if you desire.
So there you have it. A simple and tasty meal from me to you!
| | |
| Tonight I attended my second concert here in LA, which was located at the Staples Center again! A great friend blessed my roomie and I with some free tickets to see Matchbox 20. Not only were they free tickets, but they were VIP tickets which included great seats and also access to a private suite. Unfortunately the premiere box suite was behind the curtain for the concert so we didn't utilize it. We laughed the whole way to the Staples Center and giggled as we went through the VIP entrance. What kind of life are we living in LA??
First of all, we had no information as to who was opening for Matchbox 20 or if anyone was. To our surprise, it was Mutemath and Alanis Morissette. Now, I know that Alanis has her dark side, but there is just something about her music that I really enjoy singing along with. In fact, Sara and I jammed to one of her cd's as we moved across the country three years ago. It's good road trip music. So, before the concert even began we were super pumped.
We sat down with our nachos and chili cheese fries and the entertainment began. We were surrounded by a few teenagers, but mostly 35-45 year old men and women who were wearing their True Religion jeans, they were tanned, freshly manicured, and looking sharp. Of course there were a few people that looked like they were plucked straight out of Cherry Box, MO. We were definitely among a crowd that was more of a sitting crowd than a standing crowd. But when they stood, they didn't just stand, they danced. And let me tell you, they may be slim and trim and perfected in their looks, but these people have hilarious dance moves!! Across the isle stood a heavy-set bleach blonde haired woman who was shaking it while her husband sat in his seat emotionless and sleeping during the entire 4 hr concert. And also, not only did Mr. True Religion jeans man sitting in front of us dance a little, but he frequently pulled out his binoculars to watch the stage. BINOCULARS!!!!! I never saw such a thing!
Public events always provide a lot of humor for me, just as I'm sure I probably do ridiculous things unknowingly and provide humor to others. And I'm ok with that. As long as I can laugh at others, they can laugh at me. | | |
| Every apartment building has it's perks and drawbacks. My apartment has many more perks than drawbacks. After the first 10 months or so of construction next door, it's a fairly quiet place to reside. I think Sara and I are the youngest people in the 12-apartment complex. Most people keep to themselves and even Gina, the unofficial resident doorkeeper, isn't too nosy anymore. We only have to deal with her loud vulgar mouth because she sits outside all of the time, and then the occasional time that she yells at her cats or elderly mother.
It started a long time ago, but it has become more frequent. It was a deep dull murmur of a voice, usually kicking up between 12 am - 3 am. I finally confirmed my suspicions when I heard the voice begin to say "Giiii-na" about 20 times in a slow drawn out way. Apparently Gina's elderly mother sleeps in the bedroom underneath mine, on the first floor.
One particular night, after the old lady beckoning Gina for about 20 minutes, Gina came in her room. She yelled and screamed at her mother and threatened to murder her if she kept waking her up in the middle of the night. I felt like I was in the same room as them, I could hear every detail of what was going on.
The little old lady says things like "Is Anybody there?" or "Somebody help me!" One of these nights I'm tempted to yell back at her and see if we can have a conversation. It's kinda annoying sometimes but mostly it's just funny. | | |
|
