Saturday, August 27, 2011

Capture the moment

my sister recently went to test drive her dream car [well, a close substitute]
yikes... my little sister is a hottie who's gonna drive a sports car one day...
she better take me for rides! ;-)

Friday, August 26, 2011

Arie and Petro in the USA



SO excited to spend time with you, Arie!
To catch up on our lives over white mocha frappuccinos,
visit the school supply section of Target and see the newest highlighters,
and talk, laugh and cry til we fall over with exhaustion.

Soon, girl... soon.

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Happy birthday to Me!

Back on August 8th, I turned 25.

It was a three-day celebration, and it was oh-so-fun.
Sunday (the 7th), I went to my cousin's birthday lunch [family tradition on mom's side].
I love spending time with my family,
and my mom made it special by making me a beautiful and amazingly yummy fruit pizza for my birthday!

J and I met up with his parents and grandmas for dinner at Claim Jumper.
I love it there... the atmosphere, the memories, and of course, the yummy food. hugest menu ever!
We had a really special time together.
Reason #400 why I love J: he orders dessert with me :-)
gift highlights: a cricut cartridge, cute 3-day jacket, worship album, and giftcards to target, nordstrom, and road runner sports

To close out the evening, we had an amazing last-minute late night heart-to-heart with our 
neighbors/pastor/friends over Papa Johns and Starbucks.

I took my birthday off [!!] and spent the cool Monday morning with
my mom and sister at the cutest breakfast place in La Jolla.
breakfast + amazing company + clouds + beach front view + birthdays = perfect
gift highlights: fun scrapbook stuff, makeup, hair flower clip, and a cute dress
we happened to stumble across some sea lions basking on the rocks with thousands of birds :)
a little shopping
love taking pictures with you both! we look like triplets :)
Thanks, mom and C, for a special start to my day. 

J was able to take the afternoon off, so we headed to Coronado for ice cream and a little time at the beach.
[our first trip together to the beach all summer, aren't we lame? not anymore though! :)]
ps: I woulda taken a picture of our ice cream,
but half of it melted on my hands by the time we got to a place where I could get the camera out ;)
crossing the bridge... I love San Diego.

We headed to Road Runner to spend my gift card afterwards :) Thanks J&K!

We finished out the day with dinner at old faithful with the fam.
gift highlight: some fun 3-day gear and thoughtful cards
My sister gave me the sweetest made-me-cry card
and the cutest jacket ever. I'm ready for cloudy days!
and, the most thoughtful blog post ever.

I love my family.
Thanks for making my birthday so special, sweet family.

We arrived home after dinner to a special birthday surprise from my neighbor and great friend.
some amazing music and starbucks.
thank you, Jen. you are so incredibly thoughtful.

Last but not least, a few special treats from my favorite. 
a few highlights: scrapbook scissors, black and white paper, envelope stencils, the cutest cricut cartridge, a pedometer, 
CD, and fun new iphone case. oh, and peanut m&ms, of course ;)
babe, it was perfect. thank you for seeing into my soul and showing me love in these special items.
as well as in other ways. i love you. wholly, deeply, truly.

{btw, I'm not the present hoarder I look like... we just like to give lots of small items :)}

Tuesday evening, we took dinner with the Js to M, K, and E
It was so special to spend time with special friends and little Elle.

Afterward, the J Mcs continued on for some fro yo. my FAVE.
{i adore jessi}
thanks for being such genuine friends who can share in our joys, trials, and of course, birthdays.
and thank you for my beautiful candle holder. the yummy fresh linen smell warms our home.
we love you.

It was such a special start to my 25th year. Thank you friends and family for making it so meaningful.
And for loving me the way that I am.
I'm excited for what this year holds. I think it's gonna be my best yet. :)

Monday, August 22, 2011

Capture the moment

E and B's summer haircuts, round two
[I bribed them to look at me with bones... they don't just pose for the camera like this ;)]

Sorry about my little blog hiatus this summer. Life has been a bit crazy here. 
I have lots of events and thoughts in process though that I'll work on articulating on here sooner than later. 
Thanks for hanging in.

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

In this moment

God tends to use music to speak to me.
Last night, He gave me a song with a verse.
I'm thankful for those times.


This morning, 
I'm thankful for this verse:


"He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will abide in the shadow of the Almighty."
Psalm 91:1


and this song:

We pray for blessings
We pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

We pray for wisdom
Your voice to hear
And we cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough
All the while, You hear each desperate plea
And long that we'd have faith to believe

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
And what if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

When friends betray us
When darkness seems to win
We know the pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home
It's not our home

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if my greatest disappointments
Or the achings of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy
And what if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are Your mercies in disguise


You can listen here.


Saturday, August 13, 2011

Free to be me

My good friend gave me a homemade CD of some of her favorites for my birthday this past week.
As I began to listen, the first song's lyrics stood out to me.

God used a song to remind me of his love for me.
He created me uniquely for a purpose... which I am still discovering.
In the midst of a list of faults, He is still True.

May this bring you joy today!

{a few highlights}

Sometimes I believe that I can do anything
Yet other times I think I've got nothing good to bring
But You look at my heart and You tell me 
That I've got all You seek 
And it’s easy to believe
Even though I got a couple dents in my fender
Got a couple rips in my jeans
Try to fit the pieces together 
But perfection is my enemy
On my own I'm so clumsy
But on Your shoulders I can see
I'm free to be me


Happy weekend :)

Friday, August 12, 2011

Welcome to this world, Elle Jasmine

August 5, 2011 at 1:12am,
Mark and Katie met their long-awaited, precious 
Elle Jasmine Ritter
for the first time.
6.5 lbs of beauty, grace, peace and love in a baby.

J and I went to visit our friends and meet Elle Sunday morning before church
when she was only 55 hours old.
We enjoyed blueberry muffins and coffee bean together
as we watched their little girl squirm and smile and coo and sleep
and chatted about life, labor, moving, friendship, and change.

And of course, we took a few pictures.

I love how Mark and Katie celebrate together. They had the entire house decorated for Elle.

princess Elle [the "elle" was courtesy of crafty jess]

Meet Elle

their family... exhausted but so peaceful and joyful

Congratulations, M and K.
We are truly so excited for you.
Thank you for letting us share in your joy with you.
Your little girl is beautiful.
So honored to watch you grow as parents together.
We love you!

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

The real me

Sometimes, I feel like I only post the best of me.
My mom and sister tell me I seem perfect based on my blog. [in a good way]
They tell me how awesome I am and sweet and optimistic.
I'm often like that, I guess.
But I realized, I think I tend to present the best of me. Because of the purpose of this blog.
I want to be more real.

Sometimes I don't blog because I don't know what to say. I don't feel like I have anything profound, I'm tired of blogging events, and I want this to be a place of joy and encouragement. And I don't always feel that way.

So who is Jordanna?

I want to be:
The fun bubbly one, the funny one, the life of the party.
The one who books spontaneous trips to go random fun places,
who laughs 100 times a day, like kids do.
The one who always looks to God first,
who loves unconditionally and selflessly,
and who is never too busy for a heart-to-heart.

And sometimes, I think I am.

But there's the other side of me:
I get frustrated. often.
I'm not that funny [well, sometimes I am ;)].
Sometimes I don't know what to say, and I get nervous in big groups of people.
I spend more time thinking about all the things I want and need to do rather than laughing about what IS.
I often ask friends and family before I ask the Lord big and small things.
I am selfish and often want to do things just because it's what I want.
I don't take advice very well and I often do the opposite thing, and then call it independence.
I manage to fill my days from the moment I wake up to the moment I fall asleep with who-knows-what.
I want to try new things, have adventures, and feel different --
yet I am so often afraid.
I love to feel special, and get so bummed when I don't.
I feel boring and un-fun if I don't have fun things to talk about.
I never want to miss out on anything, but end up often missing out on quite a lot.
I am insecure, I lack confidence in many areas, and I need to hear that I am pretty and loved often.
I'm tired almost always-- I never go to bed early enough, and I never want to get up in the morning...
unless I don't have to go to work.
I can't decide what's worse - having to make dinner or do the dishes afterward. I think the reason I hate making dinner is because of the dishes that follow.
I don't really hate making dinner. I really want to. But I'm afraid of spending time and investing a part of me, just to fail.
I want to save the world, and yet I'm often just strong enough to utter a small thanks to the Lord for saving me.
I get grumpy, I get offended, I'm sensitive and I often cry about seemingly unimportant things.
I sometimes don't respond to invitations because I'm afraid to plan into the future.
I have good days. I have really great days. And I have really bummer days.

Often, my mind goes crazy thinking about things that are not necessarily true.

So I remember what is true.

Jesus is the son of God.
Jesus is God.
He died for my sins, and His saving grace is the reason I am alive.
My joy and hope and peace is found in Jesus.
He is my strength and the reason I live and move and breathe.
I will trust Him with my life. I often don't know how, but by His grace I will.
He loves His children. I am His child. So He loves me.

Any joy found in the words and images in this blog is by the grace of God.
He is the reason I live, and sing, and write, and love, and live.

These are pieces of the real me.
I think.
I'm still discovering who I am.


Friday, August 5, 2011

Casey & Jake: Married at Last!

Saturday evening, I had the privilege of watching my extra special friend marry her middle school sweetheart and best friend.

I've been friends with Casey since we were in kindergarten. Although we haven't seen each other more than twice a year over the last couple years, she is the greatest. We pick up right where we left off and it's like time never passed. I love that we have grown up together.

Casey and Jake have been together [on and off] since we were in 7th grade. Calicinto, to be exact. They have grown up together, best friends, and finally decided it was time to join hands in marriage up at Bates.

 Casey's mom and brother :)
 Jake waiting for his bride
 I love this girl.
 these expressions are so classic 'Jake and Casey'
 praying over them
 Whoo hoo married!!
 photos over time
 our 8th grade graduation :) me on the right, casey on the left
 i took the one on the left at camp.... some of our high school friends in the middle.
 Love how they love each other!
 It was quite the Skyline reunion [since we all grew up there] and I loved reconnecting with old friends.
I adore Sharon and her hubby Casey
[funny thing: since J and I both grew up in SD,
he went to school with many of my friends from church, like Sharon :)]
 my sweetheart
 my twins
 Bride and me!
 Mom and Suzy, proud mom of the bride. They are special friends :)
my special family.

Congratulations, Jake and Casey!
May your marriage be filled with love, laughs, hugs, and the joy of Jesus!

I love you, Case!