Hello! It hasn't been long since I last updated this blog! Haha, so anyway, I went to Java Joe's again!
Amy, for the first time EVER drove her car with me and her younger brother, Jason, to school! NO BUS RIDES FOR US, WE ARE COOL KIDS NOW. Lol no, that's not gonna be a daily thing. Only when Amy has to work at the coffee shop. 

Strait after school ended, the two of us headed to Java Joe's. We jammed out to my phone's music, including Robin Sparkles' "Let's Go To The Mall", OK Go's "The Great Fire", and when Amy had 3 minutes to get to the coffee shop before being late, "Where Did The Party Go" by Fall Out Boy played to hype us up. 

We got there JUST in time. 

Bailey was in the coffee shop, although it wasn't her shift. From the chaos of yesterday, she had managed to lose her voice. She didn't stick around for long because of that. She just wasn't feeling well. 

Rosa had told me that she'd be arriving soon, so I sat around on one of the couches of the coffee shop and knitted as I waited. 
Later, Rosa updated me that her mom decided to do some Christmas shopping, so she'd be later. I took this as cue to just order my food myself. Around this point in time, Tyler (Have I ever mentioned him before? Well in the time that I write this, he is Rosa's bae) arrived, so we ordered food together, and ate at the bar. I had realized that I only had with me five dollars, but noTHING ON THE MENU SOLD FOR FIVE BUCKS. So Amy so kindly let me 'borrow' (which I will return in the form of a mix CD, probably) money from her own wallet. That doll. 
Tyler shared a similar predicament, so Amy lent both of us money. Heh. Thanks, Amy, you're fab. 

I ordered the Cheese Steak, and Tyler got the Triple Grilled Cheese. The service at the moment is kinda slow, but I'm sure that it'll improve as time goes on. I mean, it is only the 2nd day of business. I also hope that if business gets better, the prices will be able to go down, because phew 8 bucks is kinda a stretch for a couple of high school students without a job. 
The food was seriously DELICIOUS. It was SO. GOOD. 
At one point, Tyler left his seat to check out the arcade, and I grabbed his plate and 'hid' it. I vowed that I'd get take pics of record things in Java Joe's, so here is a video of what happened when Tyler got back.

Hello. It's kinda late as I write this, so I'm gonna keep this as brief as I can, while making it detailed enough so my future self can read this and be brought back in nostalgia. 

SO TODAY, DECEMBER 22, 2014, BAILEY'S MOTHER'S COFFEE SHOP, JAVA JOE'S HAS OFFICIALLY OPENED!! I was able to go there tonight and seriously, I love it.
The walls are a nice, calming light green. As it was an hour til closing, it wasn't as jam packed as it's been reported it had been earlier. I ordered a small hot cocoa, (ugh so delicious) and my dad got a mocha. 
The entire staff is filled with people I know from school. Amy and Bailey, Matt, Tyler Sansone, John Grady, Padrick, Jen, and one other kid spotted from the kitchen that I didn't recognize. 
Matt was the one that took my order, and for him actually being nice to me, I gave him a considerate one dollar tip, which realllyyyy excited him. (Kinda cute). 
Rosa came over, and while we drank our hot cocoas, we caught up briefly. It's hard to believe that I haven't seen her in person in a month. Like, it feels like no time had passed, but when you think about it, Nerdsgiving, the last time we saw each other, was essentially today, last month. WOW. 
Anyway, it was real nice seeing her again, as well as Crystal Caruso. She was like "JESS! I MISS YOU, MY SWEET SAMSON!" to which Amy, who was manning the cash register, was amused by my nickname "Sweet Samson". IDK Crystal's always been calling me that. It's like the name that ONLY SHE is allowed to call me. She also sometimes calls me Jessica Samson (my full name). But 'My Sweet Samson' is her preferred name. 
Crystal was playing chess with Marcus at the bar. 

After finishing our hot cocoas and snacks, Rosa and I headed over to the ARCADE (YES. THIS COFFEE SHOP HAS AN ARCADE.) and we played pool! It was my first time EVER playing pool, and guess what? I WON!!! I BEAT ROSA!!! AYEEE!
Amazing. 

Not too long after that, it was time for me to depart. 
I really enjoy Java Joe's. I'm going again tomorrow after school. 

Thanks for reading!
-Jess

P.S. 
I really wish I had taken pictures. Maybe I'll film a video of the Nerd Herd hanging out there for the ShowsBeforeBros channel?? :)

Hello! Okay, so on one of my best friend's blog she did this tag thing, which seemed interesting so I'm gonna answer the questions myself! Whoo hoooo. Bandwagons!

1. Are you an artsy or sciencey person?
I would have to call myself more of an art lover than science. Like, yeah, science is everything, but art, man!

2. What’s your favorite study snack?
Nothing. I seriously cannot eat and study at the same time. Eating and working have to be two different events. 

3. Do you have any revision rituals (outfits, playlists, breaks)?
I basically work hard-core for a long while, and then when the stress starts getting to me, I switch out of the google docs tab that I'm working on, and then scroll through tumblr or watch a youtube video or something. While working, I do like to have some background noise, so music is a nice thing to have. 

4. What degree/college course are you taking/aspiring towards?
At the moment, I really like Art History. 

5. Does listening to music help or hinder your studying?
Yaassss. Music helps. It keeps my mind sane. I usually listen to alternative rock or 80s music. I have a couple playlists on Spotify that I listen through. It's fun working, and then relieving some of the stress by intensely singing along to Want You Back by the Jackson 5. (OOOH BABY GIVE ME ONE MORE CHAANNCCEEE.) 

6. Do you prefer to study alone or with friends?  
ALONE! It's the only way I'll keep focus. When I'm with friends, we tend to get off task, and end up not doing much studying at all. But hey, at least we had fun not studying?

7. What academic achievement are you most proud of?
Humm... Managing to get a B in Spanish 2 Honors. That class was awful. I hated it so much, and my teacher gave me anxiety, so the fact I've managed to avoid a C amazes me. 

8. What’s your favorite subject?
Art History! Well, I'm not taking that class anymore, and since it's an unpopular subject, there are no other art history classes. Out of the ones I'm learning now? I'd say just regular history. 

9. Is there a subject that you regret taking/not taking?
In freshman year, I took a 'computer graphics and design' class, assuming it'd be like creating logos or something. Nope. It was designing tools on computers. BOOORRRINNG. My little anxious self didn't have the courage to go to guidance and switch out, so every morning of my freshman year started out in misery. Like, I was the only female, and all the boys sat together, conversing, while I sat alone, at my own table. Alone. Awful. 

10. Who/what inspires you?
Good question. Who inspires me academically? Well, I know to get through AP English, I have Kevin Tran from Supernatural inspiring me, "Kevin never got to finish his AP classes, so I have to do this in his honor".  

11. Do you have any study tips that you swear by?
Do what works for you, I guess. Flashcards are my best friends.

12. What is your dream college?
Hahahaha, uhh. Why don't you ask me when I'm in college. It'd probably be that college. (Yeah I'm honestly not even considering what colleges I want to go to right now. I'm more of a 'live in the now. College is a future-Jess problem'.)

13. How many hours do you study a week?
I never really keep track... It depends on if there are any tests or anything. Just however long it takes to review all the info once or twice.

14. What do you use to reward yourself?
Food. For the last lab report I did, after answering a question, I allowed myself to take a bit of an air-head. It was delicious and effective haha.

15. How do you take notes?
Yes! How else am I going to keep track of the info?

16. What is the one school supply that you can’t do without?
Planner. My life would be lost without it. Plus I'd forget to do a lot of homework assignments if I didn't have it with me. 

17. Do you have something/ someone that keeps you motivated?
My friends. Marianna especially. She gives very good threats if she finds out I'm procrastinating. Also my friend Amy sends me this video sometimes. 

18. When do you study, in the morning or evening?
Evening. I never have time in the morning to do anything that isn't getting dressed, brushing my teeth and getting breakfast. 

19. Where do you like to study?
At my desk in my bedroom. 

20. What is one skill/ talent you have that helps you be a better student?
I know my limits.  

21. What is your dream career?
Honestly? I don't know. Something to do with art history, I guess. There aren't a lot of careers that deals with that, exactly though. 


22. How long does it take you to finish homework every night?
I'm usually only assigned homework in Chemistry, English, and Algebra. Algebra and Chemistry combined doesn't take long. Maybe an hour cumulatively. English, however, is a whole other story. English can take from 2-8 hours to complete. In past year, the questions we were asked in homework could easily be found within the text. In this class, you actually have to use your brain and interpret the work. Questions wouldn't be "What did X say about his classroom experience?" It's more like "How did the teacher's teaching methods affect her students? Is it an effective way of teaching?"
Lots of brain-hurting thinking, man. But, hey, I did sign up for this. Also, I gotta do it for Kevin Tran!

Okay, thanks for reading!
-Jess

Hello. 
I was just discussing with my friends, the ones made through GISHWHES last year, how much has changed in such a short period of time. How the six of us, me, Amy, Rosa, Bailey, Vicki, and Marianna started out as a group of barely-know-you acquaintances (save Rosa and Amy) to people who could share a conversation so deep, and intimate (is that the right word? Not in a romance-y way. Just like in a real close, trusting way). It's amazing. And how did we come together? GISHWHES.
If it weren't for that brilliant event, I wouldn't have the friends I have today. I wouldn't be the same person I am today. I would probably still be on the tilting world of depression, severe anxiety, and loneliness. Yeah, I had Amy and Rosa, but at that time, they've spent a lot of time hanging out together without thinking to invite me. So my freshman year of high school consisted a lot of lonely internet browsing. A lot of Netflix, as well.
I was already friends with Amy from elementary school, and Rosa more recently. from the last year of middle school. I've known Bailey vaguely. I've thought of her as 'one of Roxanne's cool friends'. (Because in my head, Roxanne's a lot cooler than me haha). Vicki I've also known vaguely. Haven't really thought much of her. Marianna became acquainted with each other in 8th grade as well, and plus we sat near each other in English for some time, as well as sharing a gym class.
I almost became friends with Bailey in the beginning of freshman year. During one of those ice-breaker things in English class, I said that I loved playing the Sims 3. Bailey, who sat behind me, was like "I love the Sims!" We then had a conversation together, and it was nice. I was honestly still intimidated by how 'cool' she was. I don't know. I was fresh out of middle school, gimme a break. Unfortunately after a few days, our teacher moved some seats, and Bailey ended up being put on the opposite side of the class. So, there goes that opportunity of friendship. Vicki was in that class as well, but as I mentioned before, I didn't pay much attention to her. Sorry Vicki.
Through facebook, though, I've managed to keep tabs from time to time on both mine and Bailey's growth in obsession over fandom things, like Sherlock and SUPERNATURAL. But yeah, the friendship opportunity was missed, so despite that, we didn't really talk much again in person since our seats have been separated. 

Come the summer, I'm scrolling through my tumblr, and am reading about something called 'GISHWHES'. Curiosity grows, and I check out the website. It seemed really cool, and asked Rosa and Amy if we should do it. This was about 2 weeks before the sign up time was closed. We decided against signing up for it. Saying "We can do it next year, I don't feel like spending $14, plus I don't know who'd be in our team."
A little less than 2 weeks later, I see myself tagged in this facebook update. 

Hello. So in my AP English class, we have to do these things called Socratic Circles. My class all arrange our desks into a circle, and we basically have a conversation about whatever text we've read most recently read. Now, this sounds pretty dandy. And it would be. Only I have one issue with these circles. We are required to speak up and voice our opinions at LEAST 7 times for an A. Doesn't sound too difficult right? Especially when these circles continue over the course of 2-3 days, yeah? No. Not for me. Not when you have a bad case of social anxiety, and just the mere thought of speaking up terrifies you. I've told my teacher this, briefly, saying "I just get so nervous" and she quickly replied before the circle session began, "Don't be nervous."
Okay. 
Thanks.
That helps me. 
(Not.)
We've completed one of these things so far. The first one, I've managed to speak up 4 times, which, honestly, is a miracle in itself. I got an F for the class grade, but, you know? Better than none. 
The class is currently still working on our second circle, which will end on Monday. One day one, I spoke... none at all. On the second day, I spoke up once, which, in my opinion, is an accomplishment in itself. I fumbled over my words, but I spoke. Like, that' still an utter failure of a grade, but just mustering up the courage to speak once made myself so proud of myself. I will take that F with stride. At least I know for sure I won't be scoring a 0 on this, which I was afraid of. 
I still have one more day to speak up more. I know I'd like to speak up at least 5 times? I kind of doubt I'll be able to do that, but I will honestly, genuinely try. 
Ugh, but the nerves are still so real. I tried to convince myself that it's no big deal. Like, walking to class I gave myself a little pep talk.
Pretend that everyone's talking you. 
Nobody cares if what you say is incorrect.
You're all in this together. 
If you speak up, you can guilt-free play the Sims for hours.
If you don't say anything at all, I FORBID you to eat whatever snack you have until it's lunchtime. 
Speak up. You can do this. Make yourself proud. You got this. 

Ugh.
Well, I'm really hoping that we aren't do so many of these circles. It'll be the death of my academic career if we do so many of these. My teacher has made a point that each one of us are going to be 'facilitators'. I'm not sure how many students are in my class, but there are two facilitators at a time. When the time comes for me to become one I am seriously going to DIE. I don't have any friends in that class! Who's gonna be my partner?? Everyone that I'm moderately acquainted with in that class already has an even closer friend.
The pains of being a junior in a senior class. There are two other juniors in my class, and of course, those two are friends with each other. Ugh.
The anxiety is real, man. I hope I'll survive this class. I'd really hate to have to drop down because of failing out of the class. It's these BLASTED SOCRATIC CIRCLES. I WAS FINE WITH ALMOST EVERYTHING ELSE. I CAN DO BUSY WORK. I ENJOY QUIETLY WRITING ESSAYS. I AM TOTALLY CAPABLE OF THAT. BUT SPEAKING ALOUD??? IN FRONT AND WITH THE REST OF THE CLASS??? THAT JUST PUTS ME IN PANIC MODE, MAN. IT'S AWFUL.
Why did I think I was capable of taking this class? I should've just taken a regular English class, man. Or Advanced Honors. College credit. Who needs that? Bleh. Ugh. Pain. 

Okay, that's all. I have English homework to work on. Bye. Have a good one.
- Jess

HELLO. Oh God, I just finished the Supernatural 200th episode special. It was truly very special. It just... yeah it made my fangirl shipping heart SIINNGGG. It was so great. I can't even describe. I had low expectations for this episode tbh. Like, a musical episode? How the hecksville are they gonna pull that off? Oh, they pulled it off. THEY PULLED IT OFF AND FLUNG IT TO THE NEXT DIMENSION, IT WAS SO GOOD. I AM SO HAPPY. THEY ACKNOWLEDGED MY OTP, DESTIEL, AND AHHUUUGHHH. SAM SHIPS IT. HE WAS EVEN COMING UP WITH SHIP NAMES FOR IT. DESTIEL. DEASTIEL. CASTEAN. AHHH AND THEN DEAN GOT ALL FLUSTERED. I MEAN WHEN THEY ALLUDED TO WINCEST, DEAN WAS LIKE "UH YOU KNOW THEY'RE BROTHERS, RIGHT?" BUT THEN WHEN THEY MENTIONED 'CASTEAN' WE GET A "SHUT UP." NO DENIAL THERE. AHHHHH. okay yeah. I just... I just love this so much. Okay, now what I need next is for Dean and Cas to have a scene where they do that thing where they stare at each other longingly, and then Sam just coughs and mentions their ship name. I would freaking LOVE THAT SO MUCH, YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND. OH GOD, AND WHAT IF CAS IS LIKE "WHAT IS DESTIEL?" and then dean is like "NOPE NOPITY NOPE" but Sam just happily complies and answers his question. OH MY GOD THAT WOULD BE HILARIOUS AND WONDERFUL AT THE SAME TIME UAUAHGUSOFJASF. 
Okay, so I need to calm down. I'm on, like, a Supernatural high right now. I am just so content with life. It doesn't even matter that I still have chem homework to finish. EVERYTHING IN THE WORLD IS JUST SO GREAT. AHHHHHH.

CARRY ON, MY WAYWARD SON. 
-Jess  

Hello. It was a pretty wonky week. I had off Sunday, Tuesday (Election Day), Thursday and Friday (Teacher's convention) and Saturday (today). So what did I do on my days off? Well, I'll give you three words. Danisnotonfire and AmazingPhil. 

Hello. You wanna know what I've done today? Quidditch. Yeah, I joined the Quidditch team of my high school. It's new, small, but oh my goodness, is it fun. I rushed from church to my school, and met up with my friend Conor and Wyatt (who I think will become a friend as well. Like, saying hey when we pass by each other in the halls type of friends.) We headed onto a field, and yeah. Tyler and his, I assume, girlfriend (also the person who sits next to me in chemistry class), Jade, arrived. Lastly, Jen and Doria arrived. And then the game begun!
Lemme tell you, this game involves a heck ton of running. By the end of the first game we played, I swear, my lungs were on the verge of collapsing. I'm not... the athletic-active type, typically. So this was tough. After a water break, I was reenergized and the running didn't quite bother me anymore. 
In case you're wondering, yes, we ran while keeping a broom in between our legs. It took some getting used to, but it was pretty easy. 
The 'quaffle' (a volleyball) is very hard to catch/hold with one hand. I have to hold my broom up by squeezing my legs together so I could use both of my hands to pick the thing up. 
Wyatt, I learned, is incredibly good at this game. If you were on Wyatt's team, there was a 95% chance your team was going to win. Like, the ball was drawn to him like a magnet. It'd always go to Wyatt, and once it reached him, there was no getting it back. He was getting it to the goal. I don't know how the heck he manages, like he has a couple tricks up his sleeve that are utterly impressive, and if I attempted to do it, I probably would have tripped over my broom and fall to the ground. 
I love Conor's gaming tactics. In order to disorientate the other players before they'd score a goal, he'd run by them and scream very loudly. It's kinda startling as well as hilarious. 
Tyler's technique was to... I don't know, it mostly look like he was having a vertical seizure, but it kinda worked?
I think the dream teams ended up with Jen, Doria and Wyatt as one team, and me, Jade, and Tyler as another, and Conor as the keeper. I liked having Tyler and Jade on a team. I think our personalities match pretty well. Whenever we'd make a goal, we'd all high five each other, and yeah, that felt like the blossoming of friendship. 
We played with three chasers on two teams. At one point, we attempted to play with beaters, but that was complicated and sad. I can't imagine how the game would be like if there were enough people to fill all the roles. Chasers, beaters, keepers, seekers, the snitch, (& that one role that keeps the beaters away from the chasers. idk their name, whoops).
The practice was meant to be from 1pm to 3pm. I was amazed by how quickly time passed by. It was soon 2:30. In the last thirty minutes, the seven us basically circled together by the goals, drinking water, exchanging stories. 
At the end, we all walked over to Wyatt's car and bode our farewells. Conor stayed back with me to wait for our respective parents to come pick us up. In the meantime, we both did stretches together. The one where we put our feet together, hold hands, and lean forward and back. Nice stretches. 
Conor's dad picked up up, and he's a real nice dude. His name is Mike. I like him. 
Soon afterwards, my mom picked me up, and took me almost home, when I realized I had left my phone in the parking lot when I put it down to do aforementioned stretches with Conor. My mom had to drive me back, and thankfully, it was still there. 
And then I went home. 

Thanks for reading. Sorry if this post made zero sense. I just don't feel like explaining the rules of the muggle version on Quidditch. Too much effort, y'dig?
-Jess

Hello. It's mid October now, and my memory is hazy. Whoops. Well, I believe I left off on Space Needle? I will quickly sum up the happenings (HOLD UP I JUST CAME ACROSS DEANMON AND CAS ON TUMBLR AHHHH OMG THEY'RE GONNA BE IN THE SAIJFOSIJFOISDFO this is for another blog post, sorry hahaha) of Seattle that I have not mentioned yet. It won't be in complete detail, unfortunately, but I'd better get this down before it completely vanishes from my memory. It won't be chronological order because, quite frankly, I can't remember what happened before what. 

1. Returned to the homeland. Visited the hospital I was born in. It was pretty small. Also visited where my family lived in Bremerton. Can you say 'Ghost Town'? It was a navy neighborhood, and the thing looked structurally unsound. Like, the wood was rotting, and I was panic-y that the stairs and porch would collapse under our weight. My parents told anecdotes of my sister's antics while living there.
   It was apparently a long drive to Bremerton from Seattle. I wouldn't know. I was asleep for most of the ride. But we ended up taking the ferry back to Seattle. The ferry was ferry fantastic (badum-chh).
2. My Sister's 22nd birthday! I actually think this happened the same day as the one above. Oh yeah, this was on August 4th. Heh. In the morning, after brushing my teeth, my sister called me into the bedroom, where of the two of us held a birthday dance party to the song '22' by Taylor Swift. On the white board in our suite, the two of us did alegbra equations because THAT'S WHAT FUN ADULTS DO!We went to the mall, and she got herself two cupcakes (which she kindly shared with me), my mom bought her a Birthday Cake flavored ice cream, and then the two of us played around in Barnes & Noble. We took pictures besides relevant books. Like one titled something along the lines of 'You're Getting Closer to Dying' and 'How to Be an Adult'. One of the highlights of our time in that place was finding all these hand puppets. My sister played with a squirrel one and had it lip sync to a rap song. Hahaha. Good times. Later that evening, at my grandparents' house, my aunt was like "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ASHLEY!" and my dad freaked out because just then he realized it was his first born's birthday. Yeah. He forgot my sister's birthday. Like, I remembered. My mom remembered. My dad forgot. I bet he felt bad about that. He later asked me if I remembered it was her birthday, and I definitely did. 
3. Mount Rainier. The next stop was this really amazing mountain. I was told the night before that we wouldn't be hiking up the thing, just driving, so I wore skinny jeans and things. We did drive up it, but then it turns out my dad is a liar and I did end up hiking up the thing. Skinny jeans are not to be worn when hiking up a mountain. Had my father not lied to me, I would've worn shorts. Dang, dad. Why you gotta do this to me. And cutting to the chase, my mom was complaining and slacking as we got higher up the thing (not really up the mountain the land around it is definitely not flat), I decided "Okay, we can stop here and then start heading back." My mom was wearing sandals... not appropriate footwear for hiking. I thought I was doing her a favor. She later stabs me in the back when we returned to the level land by claiming that "I gave up." First off, 'giving up' is an awful phrase to use. If anything I would have said "Met my limits". Only I didn't. I noticed how she was struggling, I made the executive decision to start going back down. I never said anything back to her, but ugh I hate the phrase "give up". It implies that a full effort was not given. Like I didn't try. Hate it. 
4. Downtown Seattle. I got to ride in the Seattle metro-system. Pretty nifty. It'd be super cool if my town had something like that. It'd be really convenient. Unfortunately, I live in the suburbs, not the city. And something as cool as that is no available to me. In downtown, I really dug how everything was laid out. The bricked ground reminded me of the CityWalk or whatever it's called in Universal Studios in California. I remember thinking "I wish cities looked like this". That day, I learned that the city I was looking for was SEATTLE.
   THere was this really cool fountain that had a walkway that goes through it. I walked through it three times, I think? I know the first time I was by myself, and I rushed and screamed. Another time was with my sister, I think. I was in front of her. This time, I took my time. Walked. Took in the feeling. The water pouring to my left and right, getting sprinkled with water as it hit the ground below me. My sister, though, was going through the panic that I went through the first time, and kept pushing me to go forward.
   We were with my parents, my grandpa, and my aunt. My aunt led us to the first Starbucks ever established. There was a happy man playing the guitar, singing the Itsy Bitsy Spider, and implored everyone to sing along with him. The line for the Starbucks was hella long. Dude, I don't even drink coffee, so... and there are literally other Starbucks on every other corner. It's all the same coffee.
   After that, we went through the Public Market. I bought a painting to put up in my room.
   After that, we walked down stairs, and went to the infamous 'Gum Wall'. It's a wall covered in an amazing layer of chewed gum. I love it. It's gross, but like, wow. And people keep adding onto it. My sister contributed to the gum wall. I did not.
   Going up and down more stairs, we went to this seaside thing. There was a big ferris wheel that I would have liked to go on, but, like, money.
   Lastly, my aunt parted ways with us, and everyone else when on a Duck tour. Basically, a duck tour is on this WWII ship that drives on both land and water. We got front row seats of the tour. My sister and I sat behind Max, our tour guide. It may have been one of the most fun tours I've been through. That sound track tho. It was amazing.
   After this day, I knew that Seattle is definitely a place I wouldn't mind living in. Seriously. Next to New York, Seattle is on my list of places I'd like to reside in. 

Hello. Out of all of the Nerd Herd, Vicki, I'd say is one of the members I know the least about. Thankfully, though, I have a lunch period with her, and am learning more about her. From this I've come up with the accurate description of: "smart, sarcastic, and always knows the right thing to say". And it's true. She's in the top 20(?) in our class rank, which is hella impressive. I don't know where I land in the class ranks. I've never felt like checking in with guidance and finding out. Anyway, she's also sarcastic. And I love that about her as well. She basically rolls with the punches. She has a good friend named Jaimie. On her phone, she's called 'Lord Vickilicious', and Jaimie's boyfriend has talked about how he's allowed to look all through Jaimie's phone except for the messages under Lord Vickilicious. When asked "What could you be hiding?" she nonchalantly replies "My nudes." I thought that was pretty funny, hahaha. Her sarcastic humor is the best, really. And lastly, what makes her a great friend, is that she always knows the right thing to say when a friend is down. It's astounding. I wish I had that kind of talent. I'm too socially awkward to come up with something outside of "I'm sorry, that sucks." She actually knows how to console a friend. She always knows the right thing to say. 
Not too long ago, I was crying over a thing that happened, and I shared my woes. And what she said back to me was really supportive and, like, I don't know how much she realizes how great she is. In two sentences, she's managed to cheer me up. 
This event has inspired me to write this post dedicated to her fantasticness. None of my friends really know of my blog, (although in the 1+ years I've had this thing, I've only shared it with them twice.) so I don't think she'd ever see this. But in the event that Vicki does come across this, I just wanna say thanks. You're a great friend, and I'm glad that we get to share a friendship together. 

Thanks for reading.
-Jess

Hello. How are you? My junior year of high school is doing pretty well. Overall, I'd say I'm happy. I definitely more busy this year. Gotta do those things that'll appeal to college applications, y'know? (Even though I barely have a clue on what I want to do, or what college I'd like to go to...) I don't remember if I've mentioned any of this before. I've been trying to not post regular blog posts until I've finished typing out my entire summer adventures, but ugh, there's so much to write, and I just don't feel like writing it sometimes. I have a couple days left to write, and then I have my final summer weekend, which I spent in Virginia. 
SO ABOUT MORE CURRENT EVENTS!
AP Language and Composition is a less intimidating class than I had anticipated. From what I can tell, it's easier than the Advanced Honors English class (which is supposed to rank lower than AP). They're reading all those classic pieces of literature that is written in an older version of English, with different slangs, and stuff. Meanwhile I'm reading a bunch of speeches and articles, analyzing every single detail. For instance, you wouldn't think that the speaker's use of 'he, they, we, I, me' aren't so important, but it iS VERY IMPORTANT. It contributes to the tone, and the overall message of a speech. I've learned how to present an argument effectively. I'm not going to dwell much into that because this isn't English class.
My dear friend, Bailey, her mom is currently in the process of opening a coffee shop called Java Joe's. It's biking distance from my home, maybe, like, a 20-30 minute bike ride. Not bad! I plan on being a loyal customer there. When the news was released to the public, (I got first dibs on this coffee shop knowledge. Best friend privileges, man.) at school, it seems like anyone who remotely knew of Bailey was saying they were going to try to get a job there. Like, not even friends with Bailey, but people who just knew of her. Bailey has complained on how annoying it is. She's fine with having the Nerd Herd working there, but those other peeps need to lay off, basically. 
So, I'm excited for that to open up so I can eat sandwiches and things there. Not coffee though, I don't drink coffee. And yeah, if you were wondering why I'm not going to try to apply there (and I'm sure I'd get in. Again, best friend privileges), there are two main reasons. 1. I don't drink coffee. That'd just be ironic and weird. And 2. I'm allergic to tree nuts, and other people like to have those fancy nutty things in their drinks. If I come in contact with that nonsense, bad things will happen. 
What else... Oh yeah! I've joined my high school's Quiddich team! Yes, quiddich is a real thing in the muggle world. It's like a merge of rugby, handball, and soccer? I haven't gotten to play any yet. But it'll happen, and it'll be pretty neat-o. I'm excited to see where that takes me. It'll be the first sport of any kind that I've joined, and of course the first and only sport I join is Quiddich. Why wouldn't it be. I think I've reached Ultimate Nerd status because of this. 
Around Rosh Hashanah, I had off from school, so Amy & I binged watched almost all of the movies. 
Almost all caught up...
Yesterday, I attended my school's 'Complete Works of William Shakespeare [abridged]'. It stars three guys, and they cover all of Shakespeare's plays and sonnets in about 97 minutes. That performance has seriously changed my life hahahaha. No, but it was hilarious, I was laughing the entire time. There were a lot of innuendos. Only, it wasn't even innuendo, they just came out with it. They had hand puppets do the sex, and one of the guys said they were hung like donkey. Augh, it was so funny though. One of the best parts was when they covered Hamlet. It was the longest one out of all of the others. There was a part where they brought a girl from the audience to be Ophelia, and to help her understand what's going on in her mind, they had the entire audience help. The first four rows (which I was in), had to wave their hands back and forth while saying in a high pitched manner "mayBE! MAYbe not" over and over again. THen they had the back section on the left... do... something, I can't remember. BUT they had the beack right section of the audience yell "CUT THE CRAP, HAMLET, MY BIOLOGICAL CLOCK IS TICKING, AND I WANT BABIES NOW!" So they had all of us do all that at once and it was just a roar of fabulousness. 
When they finished their performance of Hamlet, they were like "Oh hey! We have extra time! Let's do it again! But FASTER!" So they did it again, faster. And when they finished that, they were like, "LET'S DO IT AGAIN. BUT EVEN F A S T E R!!!" So they did that, and it was so great. And when they finished THAT, they were like "Okay, one more time! Except... BACKWARDS." And they did it again, backwards. It was so great, and I loved it. I would love to watch it again. 
I love school plays, man. They're so great. Especially the actors. One of them, Roland I think is his name, he looks like Brad Pitt, and all the girls fangirl over him after his performance in Spamalot, which is funny, because he played Lancelot, who, in the play, turned out to be gay. We all saw him wearing a cod piece. Magic. 

Okay, that's it!
Thanks for reading. 
-Jess

Hello. Just a fun fact for ya! Writing stories are not easy. This is really a secret project, but I'm gonna write about it here anyway because I know none of the people I'm hiding it from read or even know about the existence of the blog. BUT if you happen to go by the names of either Vicki, Bailey, or Marianna... don't read this.

Hello. Continuing the saga of my summer vacation...
It was the last day at Allyza's house. After eating breakfast, my family said our goodbyes to Allyza's family, and went on our way.
With some time to kill before having to go to the airport to fly to our next destination, we vistited LACMA, the LA County Museum of Art under my sister's suggestion. It was pretty cool. We got to see that street light thing. Before, I didn't understand what the point of having all these streetlights all together like they are, but thanks to a plaque, I learned that it's supposed to be 'art' and the streetlights are from decades ago. 
Honestly, I like the Met much better. There were some art pieces that I wanted to know about that didn't even have labels or whatever on it or anything. I found that annoying. I tested, once again, my art history skills by trying to guess the time periods of art, and found that I'm not rusty quite yet. :) 
After that brief shindig, it was time to go to the airport and go to Seattle!
The flight was only 2 hours long. This is when I realized that however many days it'd take to drive somewhere, you can get there in that many hours by plane. So, while it'd take 2 days to drive from California to Washington, it only took 2 days by plane. Super neato. 
One thing I noticed about this new area is that 1) it's very green and 2) there are a lot of hills. I would not enjoy driving here. It'd be wayy too scary. I mean, driving on flat land is bad enough. Then I'd have to take into account the speed of the car rolling down a hill? Heck naw. 
Also, on the day that I went to Seattle was the day GISHWHES 2014 started. My friends must have been busy scavenging while I listened to my parents talk to family in a language I don't understand. Not that fun, for me, honestly. 
I learned that there was an event for GISHWHES in Seattle the next day. Misha would be there. And I really wanted to go. Unfortunately, the day and time it was happening, I was trapped at church, after worship services, with the same deal. I was standing around alone listening to my family talk to strangers in a language I don't understand. The amount of frustration and sadness I went through at that time. I could have met my idol, the person I look up to, my rolemodel... I could have met Misha Collins in the flesh... but couldn't. I am seriously still upset about this. One day I will meet Misha Collins. On my bucket list is to hug Misha. It will happen. It. Will. 
Instead of meeting Misha, my grandparents, after the extended hours of talking to others, took my family around town. At this point in time, I was feeling a terrible wave of home sickness. When I was with my friends in Cali, I was fine! My friends made me feel at home. Where I was then, with family who scarcely spoke English... the last thing I felt was at home. While we were at this seafood restaurant (mind you, I barely even like seafood) tears actually started to roll down my face. Since I managed to keep quiet, when my family noticed, they just assumed my allergies were acting up. Thank goodness for my history of having bad allergy attacks, otherwise I would have had to explain to them why I was sad, and that would have made me even more uncomfortable and probably explode into tears. 
After eating, we drove around more. It was exhausting sitting in a car for an extended period of time, listening to foreign words. I was sitting in the back between my sister and mother. I eventually lolled to sleep, awkwardly tilting my head onto my shoulder, trying to stay within my own personal space. By the end of my stay in Seattle, I grew a hatred towards sitting in the middle. It's the worst.
By the time I woke up, we were... looking... at... a college...???? A MeDiCaL COLlege???? Umm. Why?????????? I was in a very bad mood by the time I was forced to leave the car and take pictures by it. Seriously, what kind of 'tourist attraction' is this? A sucky one. 
THEN they took us to the Space Needle. That was actually pretty cool. Not at all as cool as the Stratosphere in Las Vegas, but cool enough. There weren't any rides that dangled you from the top of the tower. 
At the gift shop there, I bought a key chain with my name on it. My grandma encouraged me to get some for my friends at home, and given that I have 5 close friends, I at first declined. Then they told me to just choose 'a special friend', so I chose Amy. 8 years of friendship and 10 years of knowing each other should constitute the title of special friend. I looked for one that said 'Rosa' since she was also one of my closer friends, but alas, they didn't have her name. I took note to get something else for her at some other point in the trip. Along with the keychain, I also got a painting to decorate my room with. 

Hello! A continuation of my tales of my summer vacation. The last day was Jona's last full day spent in California with Allyza and I.  In the morning, Jona's family all ate breakfast, and then they were off. She exchanged hugs with Allyza, and I told her that I'd see her at Sid's birthday party, being held in a few weeks from then back in New Jersey. 
After they had left, the party left went out to eat lunch at some Chinese-ish restaurant. It wasn't Chinese food, but I can't remember what it was. 
It was August 1st, and Guardians of the Galaxy has premiered just that day. AJ and I shared our desire to go watch it, and Allyza was in a movie mood. While at the restaurant, I asked my dad if we could go to the movies, and he agreed! Allyza looked up some movie times, and it was a done deal. My sister got a text from Joe, and he claimed that he sad Nick Jonas. We were very skeptical, although... it was the LAX... it wasn't entirely impossible. We looked up if Nick Jonas had any shows going on in New Jersey, and nothing with Nick showed up, however, Kevin Jonas's name did pop up a bit the results. We settled with figuring that Joe was lying, because that reasoning wasn't against his character. Later that day, we did find out from Jona, a more trust worthy source, that they didn't see Nick Jonas. It was Kevin Jonas. Allyza and I fangirled for Jona's luck. 
After we finished eating, my sister, Allyza, AJ and I went to watch Guardians of the Galaxy, and ah it was amazing. Peter's origin story was kinda strange. His mother dies (I almost cried) and he gets abducted by aliens. Okay. Overall,  thought that the soundtrack was amazing. Heck yeah, 70's music! I'm kind of glad that Gamora and Peter didn't get together. That'd be cliche. Like of COURSE they'd get together. It's so typical that romance would be a subplot of the movie. THank goodness though that that wasn't the case for this movie. My favorite character of the movie was, hands down, Groot. I love that tree. My heat melts for the tree. 
So essentially, the movie was about a bunch of a-holes getting together, and they save the world with the power of friendship, and a dance competition. Seriously, it's a great movie. I'm excited to see what's in store for the future with this gang. 

Back at Allyza's house, me and her were just lounging in her bedroom, doing our own things, when we notice a fly. Oh, it was so funny. I tried to kill the beast. I tried throwing a pillow at it, missed, while Allyza held my sister's Shamu stuffed animal, waving it around, trying it hit it. My sister came in, hearing the ruckus, and made Allyza saying that that fly was 'juicy' and using her Shamu is not cool. I used my usual tactic, I opened her window blinds, enticing the fly towards the light. When it went to the window, I tried to shut the blinds as quickly as possible (although it kept getting stuck open), and then I SMASHED THE BLINDS WITH THE PILLOW. I did manage to get it, and you could tell because there was a LARGE shadow cast from the guts of the fly stuck to the blinds. Bleh. "See, I told you it was juicy! And you tried to use Shamu?" 
We just left the guts there. Just pretended that it didn't happen.
Later that night, on TV, there was a guy who taught how to efficiently kill a household fly. "Utilize the hold... and flick."

And that ends day 5! The time in California is winding down.
Thanks for reading!
-Jess

Hello. An intermission from my story-telling of my outrageous summer vacation trip to announce that school is back in session tomorrow! I will now go over my summer resolutions, and how I've done with them, as well as some other things.

1. Keep my room as clean as possible. Uhhmmm.... yeah this was difficult. Even after the whole redecorating of my room. I thought it'd be difficult to make my room messy with my new queen sized bed taking up most of the floor space, but lo and behold, mess can still be made. I'm still working on cleaning my room fragments at a time.
2. Read more!!! Hm, well I only got to reading my summer read books. I haven't gotten much a chance to do pleasure reading this summer, besides fanfiction... heh. I definitely did read a hefty amount of fanfics. Not entirely want I originally meant when I made this resolutions but... I'll take it.
3. Use less computer time. Oh, well... yeah this didn't happen.
4. Drink more water! Oh geez, I am just a bundle of disappointments.

Okay, so didn't really accomplish much of what I wanted to do when this summer began, bu that's okay. I still think of this summer to be one of the greatest. I was able to visit six different states in roughly two weeks! I've been in New Jersey (of course), California, Nevada, wherever the Grand Canyon is, Washington state, and Virginia. I've gotten to spend much of my time reuniting with friends and family. I feel like I've gotten closer to my sister, who I previously wasn't too fond of.
In addition, I got a new iPhone. I got the iPhone 5S, which is pretty neato. Since I've gotten it, I stopped using my iPod. Not using up all the data is worrying me though. Hopefully I don't go overboard. This is my first time having a smartphone. 
Also, the summer read book I've had to read, The Jungle by Upton Sinclair and Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser has truly changed my perspective on things. 
I've made an agreement with my friends that if I eat fast food, I have to do some punishments. Already, I have to endure three. The first two I've finished. 12 hours without internet, and the reading aloud a fanfic of my NoTP (Mycroft and Sherlock. BLEHHH.) Here's a picture of me reading the horror.