Appreciating Spring

Growing up in FL, England, FL, AZ, and then FL again has deprived me in a way.
Now I want to state right now that I am NOT complaining, and I wouldn't trade my experiences for the world! I have just realized lately that, until the last four years, I have never experienced true seasons!
FL is either hot or not hot. We call hot Summer. And then we have Hurricane season. Not hot we call Winter, and then you have starting to get hot, which we call Spring.
England was, in my memory, perpetually a Marchy Spring. Rain with a few absolutely gorgeous, light sweater just in case, days.
Arizona was either Hot, Scorching Hot, or leave the AC and you DIE! Okay, so maybe that was a little melodramatic Mom! :)
Now this isn't to say that you didn't experience the bitter cold, see snow once in a great while, or see the leaves change, it's just that those were rare moments. We actually saw snow in AZ and FL! And in FL it actually stayed on the ground for all of 2 hours!
So now, knowing my mindset, you can envision my great wonderment and amazement when I moved to NJ and experienced the changing seasons for the first time in my life! I have decided that I liked my previous, eternal Summer life. People all said "Give it a chance, snow will grow on you!" Well, I have given it 4 years. I was even open-minded and went to Winter camp. (you know, the one that actually has snow up to you waist that you have to wade thru to get to Chapel) I have Shoveled (people who enjoy that are crazy, MOM), I have Sledded, I have Ice Skated.
I have not changed my veiwpoint. Give me Summer any day!!!!
Now, I will say that I like fall. The beginning that is, before it gets too cold and you can sleep with the windows open. But when it dips below 70 I don't like it anymore, and when it gets below 60 I'm miserable!

All that being said, I am learning to appreciate the Spring! You know why??? It means Summer is coming!!!! And Winter is almost over!!!! Yay!
So now you have gotten inside my crazy head just a bit..... he he he! :) I am planning on enjoying the low 60's tomorrow! Even if it does rain. :) (I have a down-filled, fur-lined parka to help me enjoy it!!) :)

Rest, Thanks to a Migraine!

Yeah..... I'm one of those people! You know the ones who don't take a break, ever?? The ones who never use their sick days. (If I'm going to be miserable, I might as well go all out!)
Well, today (or really, last night at 2:30am) I got a migraine. The really, really, really bad kind. The kind where the glow from the digital readout on my alarm clock felt like an ice pick in the brain, and my cat snoring in the next room, behind a closed door covered in fifty pairs of shoes (they should count as insulation right??) sounded like a train running thru my room. Yeah, I couldn't read, watch TV, crochet, nothing. All I could do was flip my pillow over every 5 minutes looking for a cool spot. So after about 3 hours and a bunch of pain meds I finally fell asleep again. Only to be woke by the alarm an hour later. Now remember, I'm one of those people! I got up ready to give work a go, and on came the pain again and nausea with it...... I do not lie when I say 30 seconds later I was on the phone with my boss calling in sick!
So now, thanks to a migraine, I am taking a day of rest. See God has to be pretty drastic to get me to take a day off! Don't be like me! Know your limits! Take the time before He makes you take it! It's not pleasant! :)
Thank you God that I could finally get out of bed, but I'm still on meds with a dull ache. So pray that it goes away huh??
Jessica
(the stubborn one)

P.S. Please pray for my friend Shauna. She just got some potentially scary news, so pray that everything is fine, and that she can leave the problem in God's hands and not worry about it too much. You can check out what's going on at her blog searching for our tree of life... Prov.13:12

Michael Weiss, Ilia Kulik, John Zimmerman, Todd Eldridge

Me and Andrea!!

Stars on Ice

Michael Weiss

Dubreuil and Lauzon

Sasha Cohen

The infamous Jeffery Buttle!

See how close we were??

So yesterday Stars on Ice came to town and I took Andrea for her birthday. I know! I'm such a cool friend! (ok, so I wanted to go really bad and her birthday was the perfect excuse to go. satisfied?) :) So we had an enormous amount of fun, and had awesome seats! The seats were all God though, let me tell ya! I called to get tickets and not only did I get them half price (AAA discount) the very nice man on the phone (who I suspect was flirting with me, but look what it got me!) gave us 2nd row seats. That's right 2nd row seats! The view was amazing, and I so totally *almost* touched Jeffery Buttle! (can you tell I've been saying that alot in the last 12 hours??)

Kids Say the Cutest Things!!!!

Sunday School

Me: (10 minutes into a 15 minute lesson)

Sage: (raises hand) Miss Jessica, I know what's happening in the picture!

Me: (in a delirious, sleep-deprived state) What's going to happen in the picture Sage?

Sage: They are all lined up for Jesus' autograph! And then they get to drink chocolate milk out of the fancy cup!

Me: .....ummmm no, honey that's not what's happening.... um, let's just finish the story, okay??

Sage: Okay!

Just a sampling of what goes on, on a weekly basis, in my Sunday School class of 4-6 year olds!

Last week's gem??

Elisha

We've had a rash of Elisha stories in Sunday School. But, in all the stories we have never had a picture of Elisha, just the other people in the story. So the last story of the quarter we finally get a picture of Elisha! Now in this picture, Elisha is in the background going up the steps to a house, and in the foreground is a donkey. The donkey is the first thing you see in the picture because it's right up front. So now you know what the story card looks like. In class: Jessica, Sage' Lizzy, and Zechy. All the girls go to school together. (and yes, it does get confusing sometimes having a student with the same name as me!)

Me: What do ya'll think is going to happen in our story today?

Lizzy: Are we going to learn about Elisha again??

Me: Yes Lizzy!

Sage: Oooohhhh! I get it now! Elisha was a donkey!

Me: Wha... NO! Sage, Elisha was not a donkey, he was a prophet, one of God's special helpers.

Sage: But he wasn't a donkey?

Me: No Sage, the donkey in the picture is Elisha's donkey that he rode on.

Jessica: It would have been cooler if he was a donkey!

Sage and Lizzy: Yeah!!!

What are you supposed to say after something like this??? It's always a struggle to maintain order and not burst into hysterical laughter! It does keep Sunday School from getting boring and stale!

So enjoy a giggle on behalf of my class full of clowns!

Miss Jessica (the coolest teacher ever according to my students! I think they just like the marshmallows I give them for learning harder verses than their older siblings..) :)

Snow, Snow, Snow

This is what 12.9 inches of snow looks like. The side view of the house. The side without the drifting from the 30 mile an hour winds.

The front of my house!! Everything looks so clean and innocent and white, but there is about 2 inches of slush and ice underneath the snow. Just wanted to show ya'll what the snow storm's almost aftermath looked like! It was still snowing and the wind was howling while we were out there. I have come to the conclusion that I hate snow!! It's cold, wet and a nuisance!! :)