i'll miss you.

My sweet grandpa, Jackson W. Moffitt passed away last night, December 3, 2008, in his home.

We got the news late in the evening & rushed to the hospital where my grandma & 3 of their 4 sons (including my Dad) where waiting with their wives. He was already gone when we arrived, but we were still able to say our goodbye's, share some special memories of him & have a family prayer. Needless to say, it was a very hard night for all of us.

My Grandpa is amazing person. A strong example to his family. A good father. A loving grandfather. A devoted husband. A great-grandfather. A war veteran. A brilliant mind. An excellent dancer. A loving companion to his sweet wife and an inspiring member of the church.

 He was married to my grandmother, Val, for 61 years & their love was the stuff of romance novels. I remember going over to her house one summer afternoon a few years ago to officially have her tell me her life's story, a conversation I will always treasure (if you haven't done it-do it!) We spent the whole day talking. She told me things about her life & about her marriage with my grandpa that I had never heard. She told me how in love they were, how happy he made her. How he wasn't necessarily the person her parent's had hoped she would marry; his father had left him & his mother at a young age and they were very poor, while her dad was successful and owned the only gas station in town. But, despite everyone else, she followed her heart and she told me she has never once regretted it. They had a beautiful marriage. He took her dancing on the weekends. She cooked him all his favorite meals. He built her anything she asked him to & she painted him pictures of his favorite mountains. The adored one another. Even on the night he passed away, my grandma had just returned from the grocery store with his favorite candy bar in tow. They were always thinking of each other.

Although I know he is in a better place, although I know it was his time to go, I will miss so many things about my grandpa. I will miss his sweet laugh & grin. I will miss him teasing us and joking with us. Jon & I were over at their house just a few nights ago & one of the last things he did before we left was tease Jon about the fact that he hadn't shaved his beard that day. I knew him as a happy, sweet, kind & gentle man. I will miss him helping us build things. He was a talented craftsman. He helped me build my science project in the 6th grade & I remember being amazed by everything he knew. I will miss his sweet influence in my life & his good advice. He taught me to serve others & to be thoughtful. I can still remember all the times he randomly brought me & my Mom roses & he never missed a Valentines Day. He treated all of his girls like queens & all of us; his family, his children, his grandchildren, knew how much he loved us.

Being in that emergency room with him & my grandma was such a special experience for me. I will never forget how it felt to see her with him. It really made me realize how precious marriage is & how important love is. I feel honored to have seen my grandma share some tender thoughts about her husband & watch her stand at his bedside and stroke his face or admire his "silky hair" that she loved so much. She will miss him & so will we.

Grandpa, thank you for all you have taught me. I am honored to have been your lady J. I love you so much.

who wants to decide my future?

Yes, that's right. I'm putting my whole life in your hands. I've got a long life ahead of me, and you, dear bloggers, get to decide what I do with it.

My future & the future of all my un-born babies might revolve around this one decision, so choose wisely. (Can you feel the crushing preasure on your shoulders?) Me too.

No, not really, but in all seriousness, I've decided to change my major. Elementary Education doesn't feel right anymore (luckily, I am only 1 semester into the program) and I've realized I don't think teaching is really what I want to do with my life, but now, the problem is, I have to figure out what to change my major to. And I have to figure it out fast.

Any ideas?

PS. If you are wondering why I am 21 years old & still don't know what I wan't to major in, when I should probably have graduated from college by now, I don't know. I am still trying to figure that out, too.

PPS. How does anyone really know what they want to do with their life anyways?

PPPS. I would prefer to do something involving writing. Or babies.

PPPPS. Being an Adult is hard work.

operation chapstick.

actual emails sent today,

December 2nd, 2008

from Husband to Wife & Wife to Husband:

G to J:

"I haven't put on chapstick since yesterday morning-before work. Almost 3o hours and I am dying, but I have to break this addiction."

J to G:

"30 hours with no chapstick? Wow. That is amazing. Good luck."

J to G: (later)

"How's operation chapstick going?"

G to J:

"It's hard! I almost relapsed! I have one in my pocket that is tempting me."

J to G:

"Flush it down the toilet!! That's like crack in your pocket! Be strong."

You laugh, but I am not even kidding you, this is going to be a HUGE challenge for G. He is absolutely addicted to chapstick, worse than anyone I have ever met.

He never goes anywhere without a stick.

We will see how it goes, but I predict he relapses before dinner tonight (bless his heart).

Wish him luck.

the smellies.

These past few weeks I have had the extreme pleasure of going to see a few, ahem (4), movies. Fabulous. Amazing. Delightful. There is nothing better than going to a movie. And, I maybe saw Twilight twice (and almost a 3rd time) but that's a different story.

Moving right along.

Assigned seating at the movie theater is the worst, and I will tell you why. Flash back to the Thursday Twilight came out. It was a glorious evening. Excitement in the air, vampires on the mind. Holls picked me up promptly at 11 & we were off to the theater. After braving the crowds, prom dresses, and crazies, we settled into our seats, expecting nothing but hot vampire lust (or something like that).

AND THEN.

We smelled it.

We smelled the smell. And I mean the smell. The worst smell I have ever smelled. A strange mixture of booze, body oder & something rotting to death. I can't even begin to describe what the stench did to my stomach (or Holley's), but it was enough to make us both lift our jackets up over our mouths & noses and keep them there for the rest of the movie (impolite as it might have been). The movie was good (did I mention that?), Edward was steamy (or that?), but mostly what I remember was the smell of whoever that smelly person was. I think she might have been sitting beside me, or in front, you never can tell. But, being forced to sit next to the smellies is just one reason assigned seating at the theater sucks.

Flash forward to this weekend. It's Saturday night & I am like a 10th grader waiting to be picked up for her first prom. GJO is taking me on a date tonight. I full-fledged date, with dinner & a movie & a whole evening alone. This hasn't happened for months now due to packing, and moving, and remodeling our new place, and packing and moving & etc, etc, etc. We've been busy. But tonight, tonight GJO is taking me on a date. Get excited.

He picks me up (looking especially hot) and we are off. Dinner is fabulous and the company is splendid. After enjoying our pasta, we head to the movie theater to see James Bond (and not Twilight, despite my pleading). Once again, for this movie we have (dun, dun, dun)

Assigned seating.

G & I grab our seats fairly early & settle in. I am eyeing the door knowingly waiting to see who my arm rest buddy is going to be. He or she will decide the fate of this movie, so I am understandably nervous. A few minutes later a crowd of gentlemen walk in (I use the term 'gentlemen' loosely here) and I am hoping and praying none of them are going to be my arm rest buddy. But alas, I get a real winner.

I tried not to be judgemental. I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt, but he was everything he looked like he would be. And I believe he was wearing one of those t-shirts with the sleeves cut off, so you can imagine what he looked like he would be.

To make a long story short, arm rest buddy was beyond gross and I spent the entire movie shoved up as close to my husband as humanly possible while arm rest buddy scratched his armpits (multiple times), picked his face, cracked his elbows & fingers (ah!!), laughed loudly & sloppily, covered me with his stench, stole the entire arm rest and put his hand up his shirt multiple times to scratch his armpits & then sniff his fingers.

Yes.

Moral of the story: assigned seating sucks. And yes, sometimes you end up sitting on the 3rd row, but at least you don't have to sit next to the smellies.

blah blah blah blog.

While browsing through the blogosphere today, I came to the harsh realization that my blog (the actual looks-of-it, is what I am referring to here) is probably one of the plainest/most boring I've ever seen. My chosen colors are black, gray, white & when you are lucky I'll throw some red or gold/green in there.

It's all just a little blah.

In an effort to not be the most boring person alive, I have switched up my font. You'll notice I am now using something besides Georgia (my most loved font) & I even switched from a light gray border to a dark one.

For kicks, I might even wear something besides black/brown/gray/tan or green tonight.

I'm just edgy like that.

broaches for sale.

My oh-so-creative Mother has been making darling handmade broaches for herself, her friends & her daughters for quite a while now. After receiving tons of compliments & requests, she decided to put together a bog to showcase what she has available.

If anyone is interested in purchasing a broach, go to
www.lee-b-designs.blogspot.com
to see some of the styles available.
(some of you might even discover that a broach has been named after you!)

They really are darling & make the best gifts. My favorite ways to wear them are attached to coats, headbands & scarves. And keep in mind, you can always arrange to see them in person. The pictures really don't do them justice, in my opinion. Oh, and please don't laugh at my pathetic attempt at modeling them. That's what happens when you are the ONLY GIRL IN THE FAMILY. Might be the most embarrassing thing of my life.

a thanksgiving tale.

today, i am thankful for pepto bismol.

i have been sick all day long.

sick to my stomach on the yummiest day of the whole year.

sick on the day that everyone whips out garlic mashed potatoes

and candied yams

and stuffing.

no fair.

besides pepto, i am always thankful for my beautiful life & the people in it. i am thankful for my husband, who is my best friend. the pups, who make me laugh and keep me smiling. i am thankful for the moffitt's & the olsen's, who both bring so much laughter & happiness into our lives. i am thankful for my friends, new & old, close & far. i am thankful for my testimony & the peace and happiness it brings into my life. i am thankful for a roof over my head, food on the table, a hopeful future & someone to share it all with.

and lastly, i am thankful for this silly blog that gives me the creative outlet i've always wanted.

happy thanksgiving to all my blogging buddies.

um, nevermind.

So, yah.

Pretty much everything I said yesterday in my post about Twilight, I take back (besides the fact that Bella is lame...she is still lame). But, the movie completely changed my mind about the two of them & their romance. In my opinion, their chemistry is very different in the movie from what I imagined in the book.

And I, like so many of you, did not think Robert Pattison was anywhere near the dreamy Edward we all imagined in our heads.

But, holy cow, ladies. Brace yourselves.

He is gorgeous in the movie. Stunning, sexy, mysterious, make-you-almost-hyperventilate & drop dead-beautiful. I am not even kidding.

I spent the majority of the movie (when I wasn't gagging about the smelly girl sitting next to me. Sorry, smelly girl) whispering, "He is so beautiful", "He is so gorgeous".

Until I had to be hushed into silence.

And the chemistry between the two of them. My...my...the chemistry.

Brace yourselves.

31 years ago today.

my beautiful parents were married.

(nice tux, dad)

i couldn't be happier that they found eachother

& decided to birth 5 crazy children into the world.

mom & dad

here's to you.

here is to the wonderful example of

love & commitment

you have always shown me.

happy anniversary.

i love you.

christmas is coming, the geese are getting fat!

sometimes in highschool

they called me

jonica

(jessica + jon)

in case you don't follow.

i really don't see it.

ps.

i've been looking at christmas pictures from last year

& i am getting

really

really

excited.