I'm back!

   It has been SO long since I have written on my blog, and I feel that it is high time to get back to it. I hope it can be a means of both record keeping and also sharing with family and friends more. To start out, I'll give a brief overview of what has happened for me the past couple of years.

In January 2011, the Lord guided me to know that I should serve a mission for Him in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I started the work need for that during the following couple of weeks, and a couple of months later was called to serve in the Tacoma Washington Mission. I left on June 1st, 2011, and had many experiences that helped me to learn, grow, and come closer to my Heavenly Father and also my Savior Jesus Christ. I will likely share some of the many experiences I had while serving in future posts. So if anyone who reads this ever would like to ask me any questions about it, or about God, Jesus Christ, or the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, I am always more than happy to talk together! :)

   After returning home in December 2012, I enjoyed the wonderful Christmas season with family and friends. Right after I returned, I dated a man named Joshua for about a month, we had become friends while I was serving my mission, he was a good supporter of me serving the Lord. And then our paths changed directions, and I dated a few different guys and looked for someone that I could have joy with.  I was blessed to meet such a man. Michael Brady, a man of integrity and faith, asked me on a few dates. We didn't fall head over heels for each other at first, but we felt like we should go on some more dates together, and over time things just really clicked for us. What a blessing that has been, and such a joy!!
   We decided to date each other exclusively while we went on a road trip together at the beginning of April. We went to Utah to go to General Conference and we had a wonderful time. For me it was sad to have the trip end, but we have continued to have enjoyable dates and times together since then. I look forward to many future road trips and everyday memories with Michael.
 
   I have also returned to substitute teaching, which has been a great job that I enjoy. I also started teaching my very first art class, which is a 5 week program. Four great girls are in the class, and our last day of class will be tomorrow. I plan on teaching one or two more art program classes this summer, which should be fun as well! It is nice to have the opportunity to do that, I have wanted to for a long time but didn't do all that was needed to have it actually happen until this year.

Here is a photo of Michael and me on our roadtrip:

At the top of Ensign Peak

   

New Blog!

One and all! I have a new blog, which I will be using instead of this one. The address for it is:

http://missjessicajudy.blogspot.com/

I hope you will be able to check up on it occasionally, and remember that I'll be using that blog instead of this one. If you have any questions about it, feel free to email me. (jessicajudy@me.com) I'm sorry if the blog change is inconvenient for you, I hope it won't be. I just feel like it's the best way for me to get a fresh start on blogging. Thanks, see you at the new one!
-Jessica

Preview of what the new blog looks like:

Happy Thanksgiving to All

  I am thankful for the many many blessings in my life. I love and am so very thankful for my wonderful parents, family, friends, ward, the temple, and the gospel. I am also very thankful for my home, job, health, country, the beauty of nature, and so much more. What a wonderful world we live in.
 
    I am so grateful for my Heavenly Father blessing me with all that I have and loving me completely. I know that my Heavenly Father and my eldest brother, the Savior Jesus Christ do live, and give us all the ability to repent through the Atonement and return to live with them again. I am so grateful for the restored gospel that is again on the Earth and for the privilege we have of having a living prophet, apostles, that we can have the guidance and comfort of the Holy Ghost, and receive personal revelation from God. I would not be the same today without my Savior Jesus Christ, my Heavenly Father, and their unfailing love.

  I hope we can remember the many blessings we have been given and give thanks on this special day, and everyday as well.

Substituting... it's official!

  Well, it's official! I am a substitute teacher, and my first day was yesterday. I hoped my first time would go well, the funny part was.... I subbed for high school boys P.E.! Haha, it wasn't bad, though. For the first hour, it was combined with another class and after the boys did 2 laps, we went in the weight room and I helped supervise the boys while they were exercising. It was fun, one of my cousins, Jared, was in there! (but I think he was in the class of the other teacher who was there, but it was still fun to see him there) So For the next two hours, I had the boys do 2 laps and then play basketball on the courts outside. In the 2nd hour I shot some hoops with some of them, and in 3rd hour played a bit of 4-Square with some of the boys. (it was their idea, and I joined them... funny that high school boys would want to play it, it was a good idea!) We had a bit of trauma that hour too, head trauma, that is. One of the boys I guess somehow hit the back of his head on one of the poles and I think split it, it was bleeding on the back of his head and neck, and blood was on his hand from holding it against his head. Thankfully he was able to walk and the aid took him to the nurse.

 The next hour was JV football, and it was combined with another class. The other coach said he'd take over and they watched films in the boys locker room, so I had an extra free hour. :) The hour following that was lunch for me, and the one after that was prep. So I had 3 hours to chill at HHS! I ate for the first time in the faculty eating area, and that was nice. Then I entertained myself with my phone for a while. The last class was a baseball class, but we just did the same 2 laps and played basketball. Over the course of the day I saw my cousins Sharilyn, Jared, Justin, Alex, and my wonderful brother Brett! It was fun to see them while at my job.

    Today, I subbed for Child Development and Toybox at Mesquite High, which went fine. In 2 of the hours we watched part of Mary Poppins and the kids answered questions. In Toybox Lab, there were others in charge so I just helped, which was nice. The little kids were so cute!

On Friday I am going to be subbing at HHS again, for orchestra! Aah! That is a HUGE class, (all of the classes are, that I know of) and I don't know what I'll be able to do, it's not the same as most classes. I hope things go smoothly, I let the sub coordinator know I don't know how to conduct, but the teacher said he thinks I will do fine. We'll see! I hope it goes well. Thankfully I think he said there would be someone else there too.

  Wonderful news! My sister Jenn and her cute kids are here to visit! I am so glad, it's so nice to see all of them again. It will be fun to spend time with them, I am taking off work tomorrow and get to be with them. I love being with my family members, it is the best.




Images from :
extend.schoolwires.com
www.webweaver.nu/clipart

Miller Photoshoot

  Melissa and her son Christian came over a couple of days ago and let me take photos of them! I hadn't done a photoshoot for someone like that in quite a while, so it was great to practice. Plus it was a first for a photoshoot with a baby. They did great, and we got some good photos! Here are some of them:

Fun with my friends!

I was able to go with my good friends Paige, Melissa and Becki (and Melissa's son Christian) out to lunch a couple of weeks ago! It was so fun to get together to talk and go out to lunch. We were able to hang out for most of the day on Monday the next week. I love these girls so much!

Home

Well, last weekend I quit my job, since it was just not suited well for me. I loved my coworkers, but the work could be stressful and was in front of a computer all day, which I'd rather not have. So this week I've started the process to apply to be a substitute teacher. This week I've also been able to go with my family to Ponderosa Campground, which was SO fun! I also have been able to go to some fun young single adult activities, and plan to go to many more, thanks to a friend who knows about many of the activities. I am enjoying being home and spending more time with my family, but still would like to get that substituting job as soon as I can. I hope I get it!!

Silver Beetle

I got a new car, and I love it! It's a silver '03 VW Beetle and runs great. I am so happy about it! I'd like to put up a few photos of it but can't find how to put photos on this post, it looks like blogger.com changed its settings. But I'll get some up when I figure it out.

Workin' Lady and the Weekend

Well, it's official! I am a working woman. I started my first ever full-time job on Wednesday, and it went really good! I think it's going to take some getting used to, mostly the long hours, but I am so grateful for such a good job! I have really great coworkers too, which really is important to me. I do background checks on people all day so landlords can know if they should allow tenants to rent from them or not. Having a full-time job has made me appreciate weekends more too.

Yesterday I had a great time with my sisters Madeline and Brooklyn. We went on our swings, jumped on the trampoline, Brooklyn braided my hair, and we went to the mall to try on prom dresses and take photos. Mom and Dad gave me $ to get them some Sunday shoes, and to get Madeline some shorts. Afterwards, we stopped by Sonic and got a couple of burgers for lunch. Soon after we got home, my brother Brian came over with his kids for my nephew Grant's 5th birthday party. It was so fun to play in the water-balloon toss with my brother Brett, I had one of them break when I caught it and it COVERED me with water, mostly on the bottom half of my shirt and all on the front of my shorts. Good thing it was a hot day! Later, I went to my ward's talent show, which was great! It was fun to see some of the talents of those in my ward. Afterwards we cleaned the chapel, and that was nice to do, I hadn't done it in a while. When I came home, I watched the second half of Lord of the Rings 3 with Brett, and after it was over, we watched almost the whole 2 hours of it again, but with the commentary from the actors. It was fun to hear what they thought of certain parts and how they thought of their acting. Well I better go finish getting ready for church, I'm so glad I love my ward!

I'm a graduate!!!

Today was graduation, and it was one of the best experiences I've had. It was wonderful! The Spirit was strong in the graduation ceremony and I felt such joy. Here are a few photos of my day. There are lots more up on Facebook if you want to check out more. I had an amazing Tongan family adopt me at graduation, (friends of my family) who gave me beautiful leis and lots of love. I'm so grateful for them and all that they did for me, and even more grateful for all that my parents and family have done for me. I also very much enjoyed time with Brooke and her parents, they kindly took me out with them to lunch, and it was great! They are awesome, and I love my roomie Brooke! It's so crazy to think that I'm not a student, it's such a weird feeling. I have loved my amazing experiences here in Hawaii, I love the people, school, culture, island, and the ocean. But I'm excited for whatever's next in my life too, and seeing my family next week!

The Day After Tomorrow...

Today I took my last final, and it felt SOOOO good to be done with college! It's still weird to think about, I think it will hit me again that I'm really done when I walk at graduation this Saturday. I am so excited to move to my next stage in life! I'm not sure all what will happen and when, but I know things will work out how they're meant to if I do what I'm supposed to. I'll be home in Arizona in less than a week!

Easter!

Brooke and I dyed eggs together on Easter Sunday! We had a fun time, and one of my favorites was one that I made into a "graduation egg" since Brooke and I are graduating this week! Earlier in the day I had lunch with my ward, which is one of our General Conference traditions. Before and after the egg decorating I watched General Conference, and it was so wonderful! I really enjoyed the talks and connected a lot with some of them, and felt the Spirit of the Lord multiple times. I am so thankful for modern revelation from our Heavenly Father, He really does love us!

Waimea Rock

Here's me jumping off of Waimea Rock one last time before leaving, at one of my favorite beaches, in Waimea Bay. Brooke jumped off of it for the first time, after I jumped. Go Brooke!!! :)

Mixed Fun

Here are some mixed photos of me and my friends during the past few weekends or so, I'm going to miss them when I go home next week!

Graduation

Wow... crazy to think that it's come already... on this Saturday, in four days, I'm going to graduate from college! :) I'm so excited! It's been an incredible experience here at BYU-H, I love Hawaii so much.

Sunrise

I decided I needed to go see the sunrise at least once at "The Point" in Laie before I leave, so I went on Saturday. It was so beautiful! It happened to be the same day that the missionaries of the area decided to go see it too, so I got to take some photos for them. My favorite missionary, Sister Cutler, was there as well and it was so fun to see her again. We enjoyed the beautiful early morning.