is it summer?

Seriously. Today I took the day off and Jared and I went to Laguna Beach, ate at Cest la Vie, and went to the beach at the Montage. It's the beginning of March and I'm already ditching work to go lay out at the beach! I love California.

But...JSYK (just so you know) the water does NOT think it's summer. Brrrrrr.

Perhaps my favorite picture of all time...

taken almost exactly a year ago...

"For-here" cups are my friend...so is Andrea

Today, I went to lunch with my dear friend Andrea. Now, Andrea I haven't seen in a while. Haven't even really talked to in a while. How does this happen? Why? I really like Andrea. Why do we not talk to each other more often? I don't know. But I do know that I enjoyed our Taco Mesa and my blackened chicken tacos with no tomoatos and a small cup of tomato soup. Yes, I know. I'm strange. Ironic. An interesting dichotomy of taste buds. But, whatever. Deal with it. So yes, I know I enjoyed my meal and conversation with Andrea.

After I left Andrea, I went to Starbucks...the one on Alicia and Jeronimo. The one with a fireplace. The one where i don't know anyone who works there.
ALANNA: Do you have "for-here" cups?
BARISTA: Yes, we do...but only for you. smile.
I know she's lying to me.

So I get my cinnamon dolce latte in a "for-here" cup. Good decision. And I sit down and read A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius for like 2.5 hours.

Such a good use of my day off. "For-here" Cups and Andrea.

But then...some dumb lady tries to ruin it. As I'm leaving Starbucks I put my car in reverse. Look in my rearview mirror. I see a champagne-colored camry with its reverse lights on. But they aren't backing up. I wait a second. Still no movement. So I proceed to back up. So does champagne camry. I stop. She continues to get closer to me. I honk- loudly. She CONTINUES to back up. Luckily, I am amazing. I am America. I am the Olympics. (thank you Dave Eggers). I am the best driver in the world. I put the car into drive very quickly and the car lurches forward. I can't tell if its because I shifted gears so quickly, or if the champagne camry actually hit me. But she continues to back up and drive away as if nothing happened. Why? I honked! What are you? Deaf? Oh gosh...what if she's actually deaf? Now, I feel bad. But she's OBVIOUSLY not blind. So I don't feel that bad. And when I get home and check my car. No sratches. No dent. Good.

So it was still a good day.

February in Pictures

Here they are....my favorite pictures of February 2007!

random ipod song

Now Playing on my iPod:

Song: Informer

Artist: Snow

baby lea tafalla

Today I got to visit Taffy and Sue's new baby girl, Lea AnneMarie Tafalla. She is so beautiful. She has fair skin, and cute taffy eyes...and she's so little! Thank the Lord she doesn't have Taffy's head! As always...here are some pictures! And...good news...she's a Droopy!

Fullerton numbers

Number of questions I have for Cal State Fullerton: 3

Number of times I've visited Cal State Fullerton: 2

Number of campuses I've visited: 2

Number of people I've talked to: 7

Number of helpful people I've talked to: 0

Number of times I've been made to feel like an idiot: 3

Number of answers I've received: 0

I hate Cal State Fullerton.

That's a stalactite, JoJessica

I'm sorry...I know it's not current...but seriously I can't get enough of this sketch.

tragic irony

Last night I went to Isaiah's House, a homeless shelter in Santa Ana for homeless families.

I met a sweet little six year old girl named Porsche.

Porsche's sisters' names are Mercedes and Lexus.

They are all homeless.

Does anyone else find this tragically ironic?

poor little asian kid

Last night I went to get my passport renewed...cuz I'm going to Rwanda this summer! And...I lost my last passport somewhere in the abyss of my house. Anyway, I went to the Mission Viejo Library, which was much more pleasant than expected and very convenient. After I took my picture, the asian family that was behind me went to take theirs. First up was a young asian boy that was probably around 9 or 10 years old. The woman working the camera was this little old lady, who was very sweet...but as you'll see, either a little bit dense or a little bit racist. Anyway, the little asian boy sits down and she tells him to smile. He does. Then the little old lady says, "Now open your eyes." The kid looks confused, but opens his eyes a little wider. The lady says, "No, really...you NEED to open your eyes." The kid looks at his dad in some hopes of getting some advice... but with no luck, proceeds to try and smile while opening his little asian eyes as wide as they possibly can go. Then the lady, getting a bit frustrated says, "Listen, they need to see the color of your eyes so PLEASE OPEN YOUR EYES!" I think the little boy is very scared now and is contorting his face in ways asians shouldn't be able to do...and manages to open his eyes wide enough to appease the woman...either that or she just got too frustrated with him and gave up...either way the poor little asian kid finally got his picture taken. Sweet old racist women make getting your passport a more awkward and entertaining experience. Thank you sweet old racist woman.

the dumbest thing I've done in a long time.

So...the other night I was in bed, on my laptop (as I am right now) and I got up and left the room. When I came back, I thought to myself, "What is that smell? It smells like something's burning..." I thought for a minute that maybe Nikki had turned on the heater...but when I didn't hear the fan going, I knew the smell was not originating from the heater. So I proceeded to walk around my bedroom sniffing the air trying to find out what on earth could be causing that burning smell. After a solid minute and a half of acting like a police dog...i realized what had happened. When I plugged in my lamp, I had forgotten to take off my robe that was hanging on it. Thus, I burned a significantly sized hole in my robe as seen below. What a shame. I really liked that robe.

Emotional Health

I love it when I find books that preach what I preach. Ha ha ha. Basically...as Jared put it...I just like feeling right. :)

But anyway, Julie Hibbard recommended a book called "Falling in Love for all the Right Reasons". And since I love learning about relationships and what makes them work or not work...I decided to pick it up...and one for Annie too.

Let me tell you...it's a great book! I highly recommend it to anyone in a relationship or thinking about being in one. I also recommended it to my high school girls...I think it's great stuff for them to learn too!
I'm gonna share a little bit about what I'm learning.

There's a chapter called "The Quality of Your Self-Conception" and it's about how you have to get yourself emotionally healthy before getting into a relationship. Something I couldn't agree with more...both from observations and from personal experience. Let me read you a little bit of it.

"If you try to build intimacy with another person before you have done the hard work of getting yourself whole and healthy, all your relationships will become attempts to complete yourself. Moreover, if you are not healthy yourself, you will almost always attach yourself to another person in hopes of validating your self-worth."

"The relationship between two people can be no healthier than the emotional health of the least healthy person."

I seriously agree so much! I totally believe that the only reason Jared and I have a great relationship is because we both worked out our own crap before dating each other. It's so important. So if you are considering getting into a relationship make sure you are ready to be in one.

Stay tuned...I'm sure I'll blog more about this book!

Ohhh.....High School.

Look what I found. See if you recognize any familiar faces...

Right now...

I am...

Looking at: Pictures of my fun trip to Indiana
Listening to: John Mayer
Tasting: Cheez-its
Smelling: Flowers
Feeling: Clean sheets on my OWN bed.

Therefore...

Life is Good

I now know Jesus

Taffy informed me that eating at Cracker Barrel is essential to having a relationship with Christ.

Cracker Barrel is delicious!

Indiana Day 2

Day 2 was yesterday.

Here are some highlights from day 2.

1. Lunch. We went and ate at Rock Bottom. Our waiter was kind of a moron and told us that he didn't add the tip on to bill and that usually people gave 18% but that he'd leave it up to us. We tipped him 15%. :)





2. We had to walk outside in the cold for 1/2 a block. None of us were prepared for this. We were in short sleeves and Alli had on rainbows. It was 10 degrees...felt like 4 degees according to weather.com.











3. Session 1 worship set. The stage is awesome...and the band looks and sounds great on it.















4. Taylor Ishii got here...but he missed his bus, so he didn't get here till halfway through the 1st session. Moron.
















4. Hotel Party. We invited the entire conference to party in the hotel room of a youth pastor from Florida...and we partied...youth ministry style. I got to be the paparazzi. Jake also told all 1500 people what room WE were staying in. Lucky for him and us...nobody thought they were funny and came knocking on our door.

5. Steak 'n' Shake till 1 AM. We walked like 2 blocks in the cold. Nikki slipped on ice while trying to get a piggy back ride from Cody Fields. Our waitress Zoa (as in Prota...) "accidentally" ordered many many extra shakes and food...and brought them all to our table. Unfortunately, my camera battery was charging...so you'll have to take my word for it all.

6. I stayed up until 4:00 AM and finished Harry Potter 5...and cried.

Dear Indiana

Can you please start supplying toilet seat covers? Please. That's just gross.

Nauseated,

Alanna

Indiana Day 1.

Hi. I'm in Indiana. Here are some highlights from day one here.

1. All the kids had to bring headphones because they were getting in-ear monitors. So here's a conversation that happened in the office before we left.

Jordan: Wait till you see my headphones, they're huge and have noise cancellation...

Hayden: Oh....are they Bose?

Jordan: No they're my dad's.

I hope that was as funny to you, bloggers, as it was for all of us.

2. Sleeping in the Cleveland airport.

3. Jo-Jessica. Jo-Jessica is the name of our mutant strawberry friend. Isn't she incredible. We are preserving her in our hotel room. She's on ice.

4. It's really cold here.

So fast...

They grow up so fast...don't they?

This Month in Pictures

On my new and improved blog...I've decided to have a post each month containing my favorite pictures that I've taken this month. Kind of like MSN...this week in pictures...

I got a new camera (Canon Digital Rebel XTi) at the beginning of this month...and I don't think I've ever been so excited to purchase something. So here are my favorite pictures that I've taken with it so far. I'll try and narrow them down. Let me know what you think....

Go Droopys!!

Shea Gets Powdered

Dustin

JUMP!



Ali in the Snow

Nikki, my personal fashion model

Now I know my ABCs

Fill in your own ABCs:

A-- African Phrase: Lala salama (goodnight)
B-- Brad Pitt movie: Fight Club
C-- Crayon: Cerulean

D--Disney Movie: The Little Mermaid and The Goofy Movie
E-- Even Stevens The Musical Song: We Went to the Moon

F-- Frozen Item: Sorbet
G--Guitar Hero Song: Sweet Child of Mine - Guns & Roses
H-- Home away from home: Catalina
I-- Item I own: My new camera (Canon Digital Rebel XTi)
J-- Jungle Gym Game: Lava Monster Tag
K-- Kid's Television Show: Lizzie McGuire
L--Lost Characters: Charlie and Claire
M-- Mispronounced Word: Bag (apparently I say it funny.)

N-- Nickname: Da White Chocolate (but I wish people called me Jo-Jessica)
O-- Opener we've done in HSM: Sweet Dreams: The Eurythmics
P--Pick up Line: "Are you Jamaican...cuz Jamaican me craaaazy!"
Q-- Queen Song: Don't Stop Me Now
R-- Relaxation Method: Reading Harry Potter in the bathtub. (or counting money)
S-- Stalker Moment: Following 'N Sync from their hotel to a club...that I was too young to get into.
T-- Teenage Aspiration: to be the first female white rapper
U-- Unpleasant activity going on at the moment that I wish would cease: Nikki playing the out-of-tune piano at 12:57 AM.
V--Vocabulary word from 8th grade english with Mrs. Pappas: Mnemonic
W-- Wayne's World Line: "I don't even have A gun let alone many guns that would necessitate and entire rack."
X-- X-men Character: Rogue
Y-- Youth Ministry Moment: Nikki leading worship at PDYM last year.
Z-- Zipper-down Moment: Giving a speech in 8th grade (also in Mrs. Pappas' class)

I tag... Courtney Gause, Katie Shannon and Ryanne Witt

Don't forget to fill in your own ABCs.