Monday, May 31, 2010

One year and counting: our fellow J. Mc's



Happy 1st anniversary to our very special friends, Jessi and Jeremiah.

Thank you for exemplifying a Godly and loving marriage.

We love you guys!

Can't wait to hear about your lovely trip up the coast.

Freedom is not free

On this Memorial day,

To those who fought,
to those fighting,
to those who lost their lives fighting
and the families left to remember,

We salute you.


Thank you for your service.

Friday, May 28, 2010

Friday favorites

Cinnamon toast crunch cereal

Baker's trip to the vet - for free! (he is ok :)


Treats at PetSmart to celebrate (it's sorta a tradition)

A cute office (to be revealed soon!)

A clean house! (and a fruit bowl)


Dinner date with my husband with a buy-one-get-one-free coupon!

Two showers - one before cleaning and one after!

A great conversation with J. I love him.

3 day weekend!

And I'm looking forward to:

this 3 day weekend!
sister time
church
hanging with our long lost friends ;)
picking up my parents from the airport with C
accomplishing some homework
hanging with my hubby

TGIF!

Desiring Wisdom

I'm usually not one to pray prayers written by someone else (not because there's anything wrong with them, but because it doesn't seem genuine for me), but this particular prayer by Carole Mayhall that I read in the book we've been going though in bible study caught my eye these past few days. Because I can honestly pray this.

Lord, open my eyes.
So much of what I read in your word speaks of the importance of hearing.
Wisdom demands it;
Righteousness requires it;
Understanding necessitates it.
I see so much of selective hearing.
Am I a selective listener?
Do I only hear what I want to?
Oh Father!
You know I long to be wise; understanding; discerning.
Teach me to hear from people, experiences, expressions, tones of life...
With an openness of mind,
a totality of heart,
and an abandonment of my own preconceived ideas.
Help me to learn.
Teach me to open my eyes and really hear.

So often, we 'desire to be wise.' And there's a checklist of things to do in order to 'be wise.'
At least, it looks that way.
And that bothers me.
That attaining wisdom would be something I think I can accomplish. On my own.

When really, Wisdom just IS.
And when I spend time with Jesus,
chatting and listening to what he has to say,
I think maybe he says, 'this is what it's about, my child. You and me, spending time together. Let me teach you how to BE.'

It is less about doing, and more about being.
Those that I think are wise aren't those that walk around in a circle of perfection and great choices.
Those that I think are wise are those that just ARE. Wisdom is a part of their character. Like it is a part of God's character.
And if wisdom is God's character, I can't have wisdom without God and his character.

So God, please allow your character to come alive in me. 
Bit by bit. Day by day.
And teach me to BE.
And thank you for being patient with me, as I learn things again. And again.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

In case you missed them...

Luigi

Emma and J

Baker

 Buddies

My dogs that live at Mom and Steve's :)
Casey and her summer haircut

Sammy and his summer haircut

Yep. Still as cute as ever. :)

Date night with Sis

Tonight I got to hang out with my favorite girl of all time... my little sister. My class was canceled, so did the right thing and spent time away from school :).

We spent the evening scouting out the cutest restaurant we could find, and ended up at Mexican. Oh well, we tried. It was definitely tasty! And pretty cute too. :) I love going to new and cute areas of town, walking around and exploring. Carly was a great sport to explore with me.


[don't worry - that's a virgin strawberry margarita. and mine's a diet coke.] Then we walked the cute streets of La Mesa to a fun and hip coffee shop (which will be found here soon), where she tried the white mocha (what every coffee shop is measured against, of course) and I sampled the almond roca mocha (chocolate, with a bit of espresso and roca ;). We relaxed in huge chairs and shared a super yummy and soft reeses cookie before heading home.


She let me take home some leftovers from her cooking practice she had done earlier that afternoon. Carly is the best cook I know, and I've told her many times (and will tell you again C!) that I would pay her to cook for me. :) She made potato mushroom soup (I'm sure the name was fancier than that), mushroom bisque soup (would never have thought of that in a million years, but it tasted great), and some little desserty things with strawberries in them (also wonderful). Thanks for your treats C. Anytime you decide to "try some new recipes," pleassssssssse call me.

My sister is my favorite. She laughs with me. Loud, and she doesn't care what people think. We can sit quietly, or talk loudly, and it's natural. She isn't embarrassed by me, and she actually thinks I'm funny. And GOSH she is funny. We tease each other constantly, but always with a smile. Ultimately, I am the proudest sister ever and the luckiest too. I'm fairly convinced if I ever move somewhere, I'm taking her with me. Either that or cry every single day. Regardless, for now, she's home for the summer and I like that. Because it means more sister dates in the near future.

I love you C.

Monday, May 24, 2010

Weekend past and week to come

what did i enjoy this weekend?

- dinner with new friends from church
- car trip with my friend
- girls day
- dinner with condo friends
- brownies
- clean kitchen and birdcage and clothes
- J running errands for me (thank you honey!)
- vacuumed house
- walks with J and the pups

and what is going to get me through this week?

- seeing J tonight
- a cancelled class
- dinner and chats with my sis
- a new name badge holder
- middle schoolers
- 3 more clinical shifts to check off the list
- assignments to check off the list (they will get done somehow!)
- much needed time with my Maker
- fresh groceries
- morning starbucks (it will happen at some point :)
- week 10 accomplished!
- bible study
- friday!
- these verses: "For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together." Colossians 1:16-17

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Beach, gellato, antiques, and friends

Today, I took a study break to spend the day with my friends. Today was girls day.

Brie, Ali, Jessi, and me. College friends. Roommates. RAs. Life pals. Our paths have gone in four different directions, and yet we've stayed connected. Marriages and break-ups, new jobs, new degrees, new cities. We've grown, we've changed, we've cried and laughed, and we've learned. About life, love, faith, and friends. We've had hard times, and we've walked alongside each other through it all.

Brie, is leaving for the next big adventure on a Virginia farm this week, and we couldn't let her go without a final hurrah.

Jess drove us up, and we enjoyed a lovely chat (both ways) and gallivanted around Newport a bit before meeting up with Brie.




What would it be like to live here? Seriously.


Then we met up with Brie and headed up to the cutest little cafe ever for lunch. Ali met us there and we enjoyed a delicious meal and conversation. Then we walked around the most quaint little town of shops and cuteness.


I love these girls.


It was the perfect day with special friends. B, I am so proud of you and so excited for these next months for you. I can't wait to see how you are impacted by this next adventure. I love you. And you A. And you Jess.

Every girl needs good girl friends.

Monday, May 17, 2010

Pause for Pinning

Two weeks ago, I, together with my nursing friends, got pinned.


The nursing pinning ceremony is rooted in tradition. It is a special time for new graduate nurses to be pinned with a pin from their nursing school by a faculty member, to light candles, and to recite the Nightingale pledge. [these things I learned recently]. Not all schools do it, so I was fortunate that APU did.


I was so humbled to receive the faculty award.



I am so blessed to have such amazing nursing friends. I couldn't do it without them. (somehow I only got a couple pictures with friends... everyone scooted out after the ceremony :) )


And a great faculty


And the best family in the world


Thank you family, for being there to celebrate such a special day with me. It meant so much to have each of you there. J. Mom. Steve. Carly. Grandma. John. Kris. I love you all!

And now, excuse me for the next few weeks while I finish the degree we just celebrated achieving... :)

Remembering Holiness

God often meets me through music.
And in my car.
This morning was one of those times.

I was listening to this one song, and I was overwhelmed with its simple message.

Holy, Holy, Holy
Is the Lord God Almighty
Who was, and is, and is to come
With all creation I sing:
Praise to the King of Kings 

You are my everything
And I will adore You

Blessing and honor, strength and glory and power be
To You the Only Wise King

Filled with wonder

Awestruck wonder
At the mention of Your Name
Jesus

Your Name is Power
Breath and Living Water
Such a marvelous mystery


I looked around and saw the birds and the trees and the clouds.
And I thought, this is Your creation, Lord.
And your creation worships you by simply being.

Then I looked at all the cars sitting in traffic.
And I thought, each car represents a person with a story.
Each person is part of Your creation, Lord.
And so many people are missing what you are offering.

And then I looked inside my car.
And saw me.
And realized, I so often forget how simple it is.
I get discouraged and I forget
that You are Holy.

In the midst of the brokenness in this world and in me,
You are Holy.

Why is it so simple for the birds of the air to worship the God of the universe
but it is so hard for people to acknowledge the Creator?

Why do I make it so complicated
when it is so very simple?

Holy are you Lord. 
Blessing, honor, glory, strength, and power be to You.
Jesus, your name is power, breath, and living water.
It's such a marvelous mystery.

Help me remember.

"Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty;
the whole earth is full of his glory."
Isaiah 6:3

Dear Blog,

I am sorry I haven't written in awhile.
It's been busy.
I miss you.
I have a nice list of things to tell you about on my little whiteboard (which I still need to tell you about!).
From the past couple weeks.
I know, I'm behind.
Thanks for sticking with me.
Even though you don't have much choice in the matter. :)

Love, Jordanna

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Freezing the moments



(yep, that's my couch he's chewing)


Seriously.
Could they be any cuter?

Nope.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Pits and Peaks

My day was a roller coaster ... down up down up down up.
Those are the worst days. And yet, they are the best.
Because they force me to appreciate the moments.

Pits:
- emma rolling in dog poop this morning on our walk
- leaving late to get to my first day of clinical
- parking in the semi-ghetto
- spilling an entire green salsa on my scrub pants at lunch
- burrito insides spilling everywhere (last time I'm eating mexican on the run in the target parking lot by myself in my work clothes)
- getting an assignment to drive through the ghetto
- tired, grumpy, hungry, and headache

Peaks:
- wearing scrub pants and a t-shirt (seriously such a perk of the job)
- the greatest school nurse preceptor ever
- stories from middle schoolers
- getting connected with the rest of my community health hours
- my sis looking for shorts with pockets for me
- free ice blended drink at coffee bean
- my friend calling to check on me tonight
- j's happy smile and hug to welcome me home
- an intact couch and couch cover for two days now
- our silly animals

Monday, May 10, 2010

12 weeks and counting

Tomorrow (I mean today) it's back to the grind, and this last semester will be crazier than ever. 
12 weeks of non-stop craziness. 
Craziness. For lack of a better word. 

This semester, I hope to:
have more clarity in which field of nursing I would like to work
enjoy my time with my nursing friends
encourage others
be joyful in the midst of stress and job hunting
find a job..??!
continue blogging fairly regularly
gain confidence in caring for patients
put all that I've learned together and start learning how to apply it
continue going to bible study when I can
be blessed with a wonderful preceptor
win the battle of eating the couch that Baker and Em keep playing
spend time with my husband, and sister, and parents, and in laws
attend my brother in law's wedding to a wonderful girl
spend time with Jesus
get to know my Savior better and better

Ready or not, here we go!

[PS: I have many blogs piled up that I need to get up here... sorry blog. It's been crazy. But I will post more soon from latest happenings. Fun to come!]

Sunday, May 9, 2010

To recognize a mom's love

Today is Mother's Day. Definitely one of my top 5 favorite days of the year. Because I get to celebrate some of the best people in the world ever - moms!

Who is my mom?
the one who's always in my corner
my cheerleader
the one who taught me right from wrong
the one who was always at my concerts and waterpolo games and all my other activities
the one who prays for me
the toughest and most courageous lady in the state, i'm convinced
the one who taught me how to love by loving me first, like Jesus did
the one who modeled Jesus
the one who prayed with me every night before bed
the one who held me when she vacuumed so i wouldn't be as afraid
Luigi's favorite person ;) 
the one who makes me excited to be a mom one day
the one who wrote notes in my lunches until i graduated high school
my defender, my confidant, my hero, my friend

 I love you Mom. Happy Mother's day. If anyone deserves a best mom award, it's you.

In addition...

The cool thing about getting married is I gain another woman in my family - J's mom! I am so blessed to have such a sweet and thoughtful mother in law. Thank you Kris, for being such a great example for Johnny and for me.
I love you!

Yesterday, we had a lovely breakfast with John's family, then sat together in church last night. Today, I went to church with my mom, then we stopped by to say hi for lunch. What a lovely weekend to celebrate two special women.

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Love on the Homefront

Today is my parents' 10 year anniversary!!!

In honor of ten whole years, ten things I love about them:

1. They make each other laugh


2. Steve does sweet things like take me to an event coordinator event and take me out to dinner

3. Our animals now have voices and full personalities

4. They do things together, like padres games


5. They are honest with each other


6. Steve helped make things like a car and college and a wedding happen


7. They look like each other


8. They are similar - Mom makes a funny face or something and says, 'oh that was SO something Steve would do!'

9. They love each other and Carly and me - Steve loves us like we're his own :)


10. They are best best best friends!


I'm so glad you guys are married. Thank you for letting me witness a true lasting relationship. And Steve, I am so glad you came to be a part of our family. You have added so much to our lives and to Mom's!


Happy Anniversary, Mom and Stevie!! I love you!