Santa Monica...oh yeah.

We went to Santa Monica yesterday, and we had a blast! We went out in the waves, swung on the swings, tried the gymnast rings (2 different kinds!), got dinner, climbed on a monument, took pictures...ahhhh, it was fun! Then we dropped off Sherrie at Apt. 29 and went to Luke's place to see Phelps win his 8th gold medal in Beijing!!! We also saw the women's heavyweight lifting, but I think we'll try to block that out of our memories. Just kidding...

Trust me, this was the best of the 3 attempts :)
Josh, Luke, me, Danielle, Sherrie

Gymnasts' chalk for the rings...
Josh, Luke, me

Some of the rings....Yeah, I think we could have been gold medalists. ;)
Josh, me

"We are too segregated!!" Haha!
Sherrie, Josh, me, Luke, Danielle

It was kind of funny to be doing this with a bunch of people strolling by...but we didn't care. :D
Sherrie, me, Luke, Danielle, Josh

We found some cool trees...and police tape...and capitalized on the ideas of Josh and Luke
Josh, Danielle, Sherrie, me, Luke

And of course, the kosher sign in Coffee Bean, my star of David necklace, and my Israel shirt.

We had such a good time! Thanks for coming guys! :D

The Race

"He [Obama] is just a scary man."
-Sherrie

Jenn-i-ca

My name is Jennica.

NOT
-Jennifer
-Jessica
-Jenna
-Jennie
-Jenni
-Jenny
-Jennagrin
-Grettica
-Jerrica
-Jenika
-Jennika
-Jenecca
-Jennitta
-Jannica
-Jenneeca

Get it right, people...

I'm really not a jerk...But after being called "Jannica" again today, I decided to write something about it. ;)

Adam

I think if Adam came back to the world, either to the Middle East, North America, or any other civilized region, he would not believe it was the same earth:

"What is this huge canyon doing here? What did you do to the dinosaurs? I guess they still think scanty fig leaves are an adequate covering. What have they done to Eden? Be nice to that guy; he could be one of Cain's descendents. What is that big, loud, gray thing in the sky? Money? What is money? Transplants huh...Eve and I did that years ago. Why don't you just walk...or ride a horse...or a camel. I've never seen that kind of dog before...or is it a rat? I don't believe you; you can't talk to people on the other side of the world using this weird contraption. You thought we looked like that?!"

Phase 2...

of my chosen career is about to begin...the dreaded credential program!!! I think I am being too optimistic in assuming that it will not be too bad or too stressful or too hard...hopefully I am right! :) (Unfortunately my pictures don't want to upload right now! rrrrr...)

The last four years...I remember
-my mom suggesting that I try to do Master's in 3 years instead of 4 because she thought I could do it and Master's is expensive...Well, it turned out that in order to do really well, I could not take more than 15 units a semester, plus there was IBEX, and I didn't want to only spend 3 years with these new friends! I am very blessed that I was able to do everything I did at Master's...

-thinking "Israel. Who wants to go to Israel??? What is there to see?" Then there was the chapel announcement showing the Pool of Siloam and some of Todd's pictures. So I asked my parents if I could go...and the rest is history.

-meeting Katharyn. Who is this giggly homeschool girl with long hair and skirts? And who is this weird, silly guy following us around? Little did we know I would be in their wedding!

-hating Foundations of Science. I now think the idea of the class is very good, but the execution of it was so boring, I wanted to either cry or hit someone after class.

-the fire drills: My poor mom having to go outside with all the college students ("No, Mom, you can't stay in here!") and having to lead Katharyn down the hallway when she failed to wake up completely.

-the explosion freshman year! It shook the windows of my English Comp. class. :D

-meeting new friends and saying goodbye to old ones. As odd as it sounds, both were hard. Hard to say goodbye because I didn't want to acknowledge that both God and I knew that it wasn't good...And hard to meet new friends because I only wanted to keep my old ones after IBEX. But I hadn't said hello, there would have been no Lester, nor Elizabeth, nor Sara, nor Naomi, nor Josh, nor...

-starting my first official job besides babysitting. It was Sunshine Day Care, with an interesting boss. Any way...I went on to work at Togo's, Kohl's, IBEX in Israel, Ikeda's, IBEX in California, Wolf Mountain, housesitting, babysitting, Honors Review. Each one had negatives, and each one had positives. I am thankful for the different opportunities God has given me to gain experience and to make $.

-pulling pranks on people. :D Katharyn and the closet, Margot Chicca and the roses, the IBEX profs and Viola, John Glass and the IBEX letter, Amos and the vacuum...

-Spring Break!!! Home, Egypt and Jordan, NorCal (Paul's, mine, and Lindy's homes), and home.

-telling myself (and a few others) that "I wasn't going to get married before I graduated." Yep, that proved true! ;)

-discovering Richard Halliburton and his wonderful travel books!! Thanks Megan! :D

-going to Israel not once but twice! That was the best gift of my life so far...I dare anyone to top it. :P

-discovering I did not want to teach elementary students! Oh dear, what do I do now? Junior high and high school, here I come!

I do NOT remember
-even going in to the IBEX Office to pick up an application!

-really meeting Paul. But I do remember the infamous picnic in the dirt!


Through it all God has been faithful to teach me things, even when I plugged my ears or turned my head or closed my eyes...His faithfulness will be there to the end...May I learn from the example of Asa:

"For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars.” - II Chronicles 16:9 NKJV

New look for a...

new year...starting on Wednesday, July 30th...my b'day... :)

If...

Israel decides to bomb Iran, they had better get a large part of Iranian military strength all at once. Have you compared the sizes of the 2 countries??? Iran is actually pretty big, and Israel is tiny...


A miklat (bomb shelter) on the moshav...

Where to?

I am slowing but surely getting closer to my goal of getting enough money to GO OVERSEAS NEXT SUMMER!!!!
But where should I go? I say India to see the Taj Mahal and the Taj Lake Palace...Or Peru to see Machu Pichu...Or Cambodia to see Angkor Wat...Or Turkey to see the Hagia Sophia...Or Italy to see Rome and the catacombs...Or ANYWHERE!!!!
Until then, I suppose I will have to content myself with reading Richard Halliburton. I am the proud owner of a 4th Halliburton book. I just purchased Glorious Adventure from amazon. Hopefully it will get here soon!

Happily Ever Ellsworth
So, the question is, did Paul Gregory Ellsworth and Katharyn Abigael Elizabeth Ellsworth really kiss in the wedding ceremony??? Yes folks, they did, though it took the video of amateur photographer Elizabeth Howell to prove it to the bridesmaids and groomsmen. More smooching was instigated during the reception by a water pitcher and bridesmaids Leslie Ann Tulloch and yours truly. Tulloch and Byers later gained the help of Christopher Buschhaus, brother-in-law of the bride, in their scheme.
In other news of the big day, Heather Hayes caught the bouquet and Troy Rankin fought for and won the candle. The candle, you say? Yes, a small, rose-shaped, floating candle was tossed aloft in the place of the garter; Rankin, we hope your romantic future is now looking brighter.
After a delightful dessert of ice cream and strawberries, guests gathered at the front of Trinity Bible Church to say farewell to the newlyweds. The oblivious couple drove off in a red, balloon-filled, '62 Ford sedan. Said sedan was promptly returned by the groom's elder brothers, Daniel and Brandon Ellsworth. However, it is safe to assume that the two lovebirds were not forced to wing it on their honeymoon.
Here's to you, Pablo and Katrin! May your new life together be as adventurous and fun as your wedding day and this blog post.

!!Coming soon!!

Stories from the wedding of Pablo and Katrin

Stories from the classroom

Stories from Hollywood

You THOUGHT...

my eyes were blue. Apparently they are green:
http://www.lydiaphotography.blogspot.com/
My friend Lydia is working toward becoming a professional photographer. She does a great job!

Sooooo...for those 3 people...

I am loving the extra songs from The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian soundtrack, specifically Switchfoot's "This Is Home" and Regina Spektor's "The Call". Check 'em out on youtube!

I was disappointed with the way that Hollywood chose to change Prince Caspian, though I defintely believe that is much better than the first film! I reread Prince Caspian, and there is not even a hint of interest between Caspian and Susan. I think they talk to each other all of 3 times in the book. hmmpf. Dumb Hollywood inserting romance just to get the money. bleah.
My job has gone pretty well so far! I am tutoring 7 kids in 3 different grades. They are all really smart, cute, and funny. I think I will miss them 7 weeks from now...or maybe I won't. ;)

I am about to be in my first "friend" wedding in the next few weeks! Katharyn and Pablo are getting married, and I get to be a bridesmaid! Pray that I will be helpful and have a good attitude for the 5 days that I am in Gilroy with my friends and their families. I am so happy for them. All of us have waited a long time for the day to come, and now it is only 9 days away! Though we all obviously have different opinions on how relationships should work, I am encouraged that Katharyn and Pablo resisted rushing into things with just their hearts and not their discernment. I think it will take away some problems that could have potentially come up in the future. To quote that scandalous book in the Old Testament, "This is my lover, this is my friend..." Song of Solomon 5:16b P&K, though I think we would all agree that we see things differently sometimes, I really am very encouraged by your self-control and your respect for God and for each other. Mazel tov!

K & I at her CalArts graduation. A master's degree at age 22! :)