Spring Break Week!

The past few weeks have definitely been interesting and exciting!

Brian and I are officially a couple. :) Aww! haha It's so nice and refreshing to have a guy genuinely like you and actually act like a boyfriend. My parents and friends (the ones that have met him) like him and I've gotten along with all his friends (or the ones that I've met). So life is peachy. :)

March 13 was Asha's graduation party at The Mayan in LA. That is SUCH a fun club!! Top level is Salsa. The middle level or main floor has a little mix of everything (they played a lot of house music!!). And the bottom level is all hip hop. The club itself is fun to look at and it's pretty cheap to get in. There are a number or parking garages/lots around, so parking is easy. And it's not SUPER crowded. The only complaint I have is that a number of the guys there are ill-mannered pigs. Instead of asking for a dance or just humping your leg (which is annoying, btw) they grab your wrist and start to lead you away from your group. Um... wtf? I've seen enough CSI, NCIS, Cold Case, and Criminal Minds to know what happens... One guy even had the nerve to KEEP grabbing my wrist after I jerked it away. Then he thought doing a sexual gesture was going to work... instead he got a pissed off 6-foot white girl yelling "Learn some f*cking manners!" in his face. But really, it's a cool club.

March 21 was How Sweet It Is!! Sooo so sooo much fun! Our group was me, Ingrid, Aztrid, her BF Victor, Branden, his younger sis Marina, Jay, and Miguel. We met up with some of Jay's friends when we were there and I also got to see Steph and Kim. Branden got us a suite at the La Quinta that was 2 miles from the NOS Event Center. That was awesome as well. It was getting ready together and then when we got tired, we didn't have to drive the 45 minutes home. I also got some really cool pictures from this one! My favorite is Marina getting a light show. AUDIOTISTIC is May 9 and we're thinking of going to that one too. It's held at the same place as HSII (NOS Event Center) so we're thinking of getting the suite again!!

March 24 I donated blood at school. Third time for me. :) It's really funny to think back on my first time and I remember how terrified I was. Now it's a piece of cake. This time Red Cross was handing out these cool shirts to donors. The shirt is way too big (even for PJs) so I'm going to make it into a bag.

School in general is going well. I'm still loving my Anthropology class. My Final Topic was going to be on appearances and how we judge people, but I think I'm going to change it Dance as a form of non-verbal communication. I don't know why I didn't think of that before. I got a low B on the mid-term. Kind of annoyed by that, but I also didn't study as hard as I should have.

Geography is still fun. I think I did alright on the mid-term. Grades will be up sometime soon, I hope. American Studies is still slightly confusing, but not as much as it was. It helps a lot that Brian sits next to me. And we still think our teacher reminds us of Lewis Black.

Hip Hop is my favorite class, of course. There are a lot of quiet people in that class... hopefully that'll change after Spring Break. There is one guy in the class (who'll remain anonymous) that keeps calling me "Jamie". There are 4 other people in the class that realized this too, and whenever they can, they call me JESSIE to see if he'll catch on. He doesn't. haha It's gotten to a point where one of the guys jokes around with me and calls me "Jasmine" or "Jennifer". I recently got to be in one of Kari's instructional videos that she puts on YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSl6JbwHhqE

I'm in the back left corner in black. :) I'm definitely taking that class again next semester.

This week is Spring Break. Yay!! I don't really have anything planned, though. No job = a lot of free time. So I actually plan on reading (for pleasure and for school). If the weather is nice enough I'll be laying out in the backyard or at the beach. On Wednesday I'm getting the wings to my hip tattoo!! I'm very excited for that!! It's been 1 year and 6 months in the waiting. haha I'm also doing a lot of job searching. Graduation is Friday, May 29 and I plan to have a job by then so I can start working right away. I really want to go to Australia or back to Europe with some friends. Or possibly another Study Abroad trip in summer of 2010? We'll see. :)

Next semester I'd like to take the Human Sexuality class that almost EVERYONE at OCC has taken along with some more dance classes. I'm really thinking of pursuing my Dance Certificate but I just have to decide on which one I want to do. They have three different ones: The Dance Instructor Certificate, The World Dance Certificate, and The Dance Conditioning/Pilates Instructor Certificate. Hell, all three have the same couple of core classes, so I might as well do all three certificates to be an over achiever. haha I still think it'd be awesome to be a Dance Therapy teacher or teach at a college.

Ahh the possibilites... until next time!

xoxox

Jessie

It's already March? When did this happen?

I honestly can't believe it's already March. When the hell did that happen...? It seemed like a few weeks ago I was at TAO with Steph, Kim, and Brandon. It's only been 2 months, but my GOD how many things have happened already!
There was the Hawaii trip, which seems like ages ago. Being dumped... awesome. Starting school. Spring Break is almost here, which means the semester is half way over... wtf? Meeting Brian and all his friends... awesome! :) Love Groove... almost a month ago?! This year is really flying by and it scares me a little. Slooow dooown... But I did realize something. I never posted my 2008 Guidelines list! (You know what's coming...)

When 2008 came upon us, I found myself, like many others, thinking of a New Year's Resolution that I would actually keep. So I sat down and started writing out a whole list of things I wanted to accomplish. And that's when I got the idea. Forget New Year's Resolutions, I'm making a "2008 Guidelines" list. And, without further ado, here is my list.

2008 Guidelines

1) Try 8 new things this year.

- Went to D.C. (East Coast) 1/8/08 - 1/14/08

- Bungee Jumping at Bridge to Nowhere 3/22/08

- Hiking (10 miles) 3/22/08

- Got a tattoo 3/26/08

- Went to Italy for a month (Study Abroad) 7/1/08 - 7/31/08

- Be part of a World Record (Thrill The World) 10/25/08

- Took a Salsa/Tango class Spring Semester 2008

- Went to a rave (Together As One) 12/31/08

2) Vote.

-- Yay Obama!

3) Be consistent with my Exercise Journal.

-- And I was. Writing it down really helped me so I didn't have those "It's only been 2 days" moments, when it was really a week.

4) Read at least 6 books.

- "Atonement" by Ian McEwan

- "The Other Boleyn Girl" by Phillipa Gregory

- "Symposium" by Plato

- "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin

- "The Secret" by Rhonda Byrne

- "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin

5) Learn to drive a stick shift.

-- I had a number of friends offer to teach me, but they wouldn't let me use their car.

6) Find 3 things I love about my job and remember them everytime I work.

- Forget this...

- I

- QUIT :)

7) Watch what I eat.

-- And I did. I still need to eat healthier though.

8) Don't be afraid to say "I love you."

-- So, every time I've said it, it hasn't worked out so well.

9) If you want to go see a movie, than go see it.

-- I actually like going to the movies by myself now.

10) Everyone has flaws. So get over it and do what makes YOU happy.

-- I think that has helped me more than anything. It's definitely added character.

11) *To replace #6* Send something in to PostSecret.

-- Now I'm just waiting to see if it'll end up in one of the books.

In conslusion, I believe and feel that 2008 has been THE BEST YEAR of my life. I tried things I've always wanted to try (and surprised myself by learning a lot of things about me) and tried things I never even thought of before. I met WONDERFUL and INSPIRING people (the Salsa Mafia, mainly). I finally did things that made ME happy. Yes, it might have hurt some other people, but we can't please everyone all the time, and it's about time I start thinking more about myself than everyone else.

There were things burried inside of me just waiting to come out, and I know that by meeting some of the people I have, those things came bursting out of me. And now I know there are definitely a lot more layers to me than I ever thought possible.

I've already made a "2009 Guidelines" list and some things will be repeated (like watching what I eat, updating my exercise journal, trying new things, and reading). But if anyone has some suggestions, I'm up for them.Thank you to EVERYONE who made my 2008 an experience of a lifetime (whether I liked you or not). I hope that 2009 will bring out the best in all of us and teach us a thing or two. :)

xoxox

Jessie

Tattoo Mode

As most of you know, I have a tattoo. It's a small one, but it's there none the less. It reads "Alis Volat Propriis" which means "She flies with her own wings" in Latin. Originally, it was supposed to have wings on the side, but I figured I'd do the words first THEN see what I feel like. Well, it's been almost a year, and I still want my damn wings.

(The words would be in the middle of the wings.)

But I also want 3 other tattoos... uh oh.

TATTOO # 2

I want the word "passion" written in Czech on the inside of my left foot. For me, it stands for the passion of dancing (hence why it's on the foot...). Also, I'm Czech (hence the Czech...). But I've heard foot tattoos are a bitch (pain wise and maintence wise). So I've been thinking of other places to put it. I want all my tattoos to be easily covered up (for work purposes), so this limits spots on the body. People have suggested to put it on the other hip... but somehow I feel that will accentuate the hips a little more than I'd like. I also refuse to put it on my lower hip. I will not have a tattoo that says "passion" right next to my crotch.

(This is what the word "passion" looks like in Czech. And that's the font I'd use, too. Just like the Alis Volat Propriis tat.)

(This is where I'd like to put it. Obviously, it wouldn't be as big as the one in the picture, considering it's only 6 letters.)

(This is another option on where to stick it.)

(Also an option on where to stick it.)

TATTOO # 3

When I took an acting class a few years ago, a girl in the class had a Latin tattoo on her foot that read "Luceat Lux Vestra" which means "Let your light shine" in Latin. I absolutely fell in love with that saying. Again, no idea where to put that one.

(Two different versions.)

TATTOO # 4
I've always wanted the Sagittarius symbol as a tatoo. Yes, I know, cliche to have the astrological symbol tattoo, but I'd like one. This one, though, I'm thinking of putting on my back (think over the ribs) right underneath where a bathing suit top/bra hook would sit. I saw a girl in Hawaii with a tattoo in that spot and it looked really nice. I'm not sure on how big it would be, but I don't think I'd color it in. Probably just the outline. Anyone who knows me knows that once I'd put color on it, I'd want to change it almost instantly (like my hair... haha).

(Here is one version that I like.)

(Here is the one I REALLY like! Possibly some shading, but again, no color.)

(See the big butterfly at the top? That's roughly where this one would go.)

Well, that's it. :) Comments are definitely welcomed!

xoxox

- Jessie

First Week Back

Technically, my first week back at school isn't over. I'm petitioning a Hip Hop class tomorrow. Denisse, Jonalyn, and Nikki are taking the class as well, so fingers crossed I get in. But I can talk about the classes I have had.

ANTHROPOLOGY
This is a Non-Verbal Communications class. The teacher got good reviews on RateMyProfessors.com, so I was happy going into this one. On the first day, the professor gave everyone a sheet of paper with 10 different descriptions and we had to go around and "meet the class" if you will. It may sound childish, but I love it when teachers do that. It really loosens up the class and gets everyone circulating. Then we had to do the whole "interview-your-neighbor-and-introduce-them-to-the-class" thing. I met a girl named Jean who is also a dancer. Small world. I've always been interested in human behavior. Why people act the way they do, decoding what they're really thinking. So I feel this class is going to be interesting and whole lot of fun.

GEOGRAPHY
I took Tarlos's Regional Geography class in Italy this past summer. She's an awesome teacher and geography is actually an interesting subject to me, so this class seems to be fun, too. I sit next to a German guy, although I never caught his name. The course assistant, however, is not my favorite. Everyone knows the parking situation at OCC is horrible. There are twice as many students as parking spaces, therefore, even if you show up stupid early for your class to find parking, you still may be late for class. This was my case today. My class starts at 9:35, so I got to school at 9:00. I eventually spied someone leaving, so I did the whole blinker thing, yet some girl took the spot. When I gave her "The Look" she just giggled and said, "Oops! Sorry! I didn't see you." My car is GOLD... sure you didn't see me.
Anywho, long story short, I ended up getting to class at 9:50. As soon as I walked into the classroom, the course assistant walked into me. "Are you just NOW getting to class?" So I said yes and told her I couldn't find parking. "Well, get here ON TIME." Ok, it won't happen again. Since it's a lecture hall and I'm blessed to sit in the middle, I wasn't going to climb over everyone in the middle of the teacher making a point. So I sat in the back like 10 other people were. The course assistant comes back out and looks at me. "Why aren't you sitting in your seat?" I didn't want to interrupt the lecture. She rolls her eyes, "If you don't sit in your seat, I'm going to DROP YOU." Ok, I already woke up in a bad mood, and I didn't need the attitude from this chic. So I started packing my bags. "Well, don't go to it NOW." and she walked away. What do you WANT, Course Assistant?!? I guess others don't like her either.

AMERICAN STUDIES
To be honest, I'm still not sure what this class is really about. All I know is our book is called "Understanding the War on Terror" and I don't understand the war on terror. The teacher wears a full on suit to class everyday, wrote our text books, and deemed himself an expert in this area. Last time I had a teacher do that, I hated the class and was thisclose to going to the Dean about his rudeness. But, this teacher cracked a few jokes and actually explains things, so I already feel it won't be that bad. Today we did a comprehension test on what we knew about government. The only problem is that they were questions taken of a Senior AP Government Finals exam from a HIGH SCHOOL. Who remembers ANYTHING they learned Sr. year in US Government? haha But there I already made friends with a guy named Brian and another girl (I never caught her name) and we're going to start a study group for the class.

EVENT MARKETING
This is an on-line class and so far I've had to read 30 pages and start a paper. It's about how to market and event (duh.) but once you read everything, it's quite obvious. It seems to be things you already know, but when you see it in detail, it's almost like overkill. But, I like event coordinating, and this is a part of it. So... yay!

Well, that's it. I'm off to go soak in a bath, read, and fall asleep to the rain. :)

Ciao!
Jessie
xoxox

Updates, anyone?

I know, I know. It's been months since I've actually posted an entry. I'd like to say that life has been busy (because it has), but not THAT busy that I couldn't write in here. 

When I got back from Italy, I started writing about the entire month I was there in detail. But to be honest, I forgot some of the details, and it's been son long, that I don't want to sit and remember every little thing that happened and try to put it into words. So I will say this, Italy was an amazing life experience that made me open my eyes, mind, and heart, and I wouldn't trade that experience for the World. I will go back there someday and hopefully sooner than later. 

Last semester (Fall 2008) was interesting. I started off by going to Vegas 2 weekends in a row. The weekend before school started I went to Sammi, Steph, Sarah, Ash, and Nikki for Sammi's 21st. The following weekend I went with Ingrid, Jay, Denisse, Asha, Nora, Mimsy, Jenny, Aurore, Maeli, Amanda, Enrique, Mark, Rudolph, and Aziz (whew!). When we went in April for Ingy's 21st, our hotel had a promotion of "Stay any night in April, get 2 nights for free in June, July, or August". So we went back to the good old El Cortez and got the same room.  

As far as school went, I signed up for my last film class, an ecology class, and a handful of event coordinating classes. But after the first day of my film class, I realized that I would need all the time outside of class I could give to work on our script and movie. So I ended up dropping all the Event Coordinating classes. Last semester definitely seemed easy because I was only taking two classes, but the Film class was difficult at times. Needless to say, I had a ton of fun though. I also figured out that I don't think I want a career working in movies or television (which sucks because I've been taking film/tv classes for three years...) but it happens, ya know?

My 22nd birthday was the Friday of Finals Week. Not a bad way to end the semester. :) A group of us went to a club called The Ruby on Hollywood Blvd. Because it was my 22nd, I wasn't too worried about the details. If you came, cool. If you didn't, you missed out. haha  Overall, I got to dance to some of my favorite music, drink, and celebrate with friends. Exactly what I wanted. 

Winter Break was entirely too long. From December 12 to February 1. If I had a job, it probably would have gone by faster, but I didn't have one (and still don't) so it was long. I went to the gym and hung out with friends. Did a lot of reading. Christmas was extremely kick back, which was nice. I got a necklace from my mom that has a passage inscribed on the back of a butterfly: "Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, She turned into a butterfly." I also got an electric toothbrush. Yay!! I've wanted one for awhile but didn't want to fork out the money for one. I went to a few Christmas parties which were fun. Dan spent a long time putting together a video for the entire group. It's footage from the last month of Senior Year in high school. There was graduation, hanging out, grad parties, and the last actual day of school. It brought back some really good memories and re-instated why some of these people are still my friends and why I don't talk to the others ones. Ingrid also had a dinner/after Christmas party at her apartment. It was just a real kick back dinner and drinking wine kind of night. Lots of pictures, as always. :) 

For New Years, Jay, Ingrid, Denisse, and I were supposed to go to Lake Tahoe for a few days to snowboard and then got to San Fran for a day. But things fell through, literally, at the last minute, and we ended up not going. Jay and I were trying to figure out how him and I could go because we really wanted to snowboard, but it was just too much money for the two of us. I ended up going to Together As One (TAO) in Los Angeles with Steph and Kim. TAO is a HUGE MASSIVE rave (35,000+ people) at the LA Sports Arena. The best part about the whole thing is that Armin VanBuren did an "Armin Only" show... a complete 9 hour set of just his music!! It was so nuts but SO incredible!!! Deadmau5 was also there and their set literally shook the snot and cold out of you (because they were outside and it was FREEZING). Jay... I'll say it again: You should have went. lol 

From January 17 - 24, my mom, dad, and I went on a cruise through Hawaii for my mom's 50th birthday. We took the exact same cruise in the summer of 2006, so I'll admit it didn't have the same "Oh, wow! Hawaii!" effect as it did the first time. And this time we didn't do something every single day. We went whale watching on Sunday and got the experience of a lifetime. We got to witness two different pods competing for a female and they came up so close to the boat that you could reach out and touch them. Monday was a beach day. Tuesday we stayed on the boat and relaxed by the pool. Wednesday we went on a Captain Zodiac/Snorkel excursion. The Zodiac was the most fun boat ride I've ever had. We got to see whales and dolphins that came up, again, right to our raft/boat. And snorkeling didn't freak me out this time. Woohoo! Thursday we rented a car and drove around Kaui. Friday was another beach day. On this beach we got the see a monk seal just chillin on the beach and then 50 feet away there was a giant sea turtle just kickin it in the sand. I definitely got my eye-full of marine life on this trip. Saturday we spent the entire day in Honolulu waiting for our flight. So we went to the movies and saw "Paul Blart: Mall Cop" (I recommend seeing it) and then went to lunch. The flight home was awesome. Our plane got delayed by 3 hours, but we also got an upgrade on the plane itself. Instead of a "normal" plane, we got an International plane. And lucky for us, we were sitting in first class, so we got the seats that fold down into a bed. One word: AMAZING. 

The last week of break was ok. I'm single now, so I had to deal with the break up and all the "What did I do?" thoughts. Super Bowl Sunday was fantastic. Jay, Ingrid, Aztrid, and I went to Aurore's apartment in LA and had a Super Bowl party. Afterwards we played the most ghetto game of Twister anyone has probably ever played. You see, we didn't have an actual Twister with us, so we made the color spots on pieces of paper and taped them onto the carpet. Then our spinner was a beer bottle on a piece of paper. After a game we decided that it wasn't working, so we played Cranium. 

Monday marked the first day of school for Spring 2009. Also, my last semester of school. YAY!! In May, I'll be graduating from OCC with my AA and Film Certificate. As of right now, I'm transferring anywhere, but I'll be looking for a job to work full time. Then, I'll be able to save money, maybe move out, and definitely travel. My class load is full this semester.

Monday

- Anthropology 105: Non Verbal Communication

Tuesday

- Geography 180: Physical Geography (with the same teacher I had in Italy!)

- American Studies 100: Institutions

Wednesday

- Anthropology 105

Thursday

- Geography 180

- American Studies 100

Friday

- Hip Hop

I'm also taking two different on-line classes, 8 weeks each, concentrating on Event Coordinating. Along with that, I'm also thinking of joining the Sierra Club at school. Ingrid and Jay were in the club last spring as well as last semester, and I've met some of the people. They all seem pretty cool and down to earth. Depending on how much involvement the club requires, I'll join or not. I'm determined to finish this semester with all A's and B's. 

Whew! It feels good to finally sit down and write (type). I'm going to make a concentrated effort to update as often as I can. :)

Ciao

Jessie

xoxox

Quick update from the Eternal City

Ciao a tutti!
And by quick update, I really mean quick.
So I realize my last entry was almost a month ago, so you can definitely say I've been slacking on updating this thing. A LOT has happened and there are way too many pictures to upload. So when I get home, I'll do a few thorough blog entries with pictures. But for now, I'll do a quick update.

TRIPS (so far...)
- The first Saturday was Santa Marinella (a beach town).
- The second Friday was Orvieto.
- The Saturday and Sunday after Orvieto was Cinque Terre (more beach towns).
- The next weekend (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday) was Venice.

SITES (so far...)
- The Vatican (we walked around a whole country!)
- The Vatican Museum (everything looked the same)
- The Sistine Chapel (contraband pics of "God Creating Adam" haha)
- St. Peter's Basilica and the Tombs of the Popes (Basilica is amazing. Dead Popes not my thing)
- The Spanish Steps (no flowers = not that impressive)
- The Forum (interesting... but a lot of it looks the same)
- The Colosseum (again, pretty interesting. but every level looks the same)
- The Dodge's Palace (really really pretty. lots of cool furniture)
- St. Marc's Square (with all the pigeons. Pigeons are gross, the square is impressive)
- Venice Canals (really really cool! gondals are too expensive though)

So really, that's all I can think of off the top of my head. I know a lot of it sounds negative, but I swear it's not! I know there are A LOT more things to say, but I promise, when I get home (less than a week! eek!) I'll do thorough entries with lots of pictures. :)

Ciao!

xoxoxo

Buon giorno from Italia!

Ciao a tutti!
Its been a long 3 days, but I finally have some down time to sit and type everything thats been going on. I first have to mention that a lot of this wont be technically correct because no one can really figure out how to use Italian keyboards. For example, question marks, smile faces, and apostrophes are impossible to figure out. haha

The first day, June 30th, was ALL TRAVELING. It took me 3 hours to check in and go through security at LAX. The 11 hour flight from Los Angeles to Frankfurt wasnt that bad, personally. A big chunk of the group sat within a section of 6 rows, so we were always getting up and talking to each other. Lufthansa has good airline food, period. We did the Big Circle Route to Frankfurt... so we went up over Canada, Greenland, and then down the coast of Scotland, and then into Frankfurt. Greenland look AMAZING from a million miles up. Snow and ice everywhere.

Frankfurt airport feels like a SUPER CLEAN version LAX. And everything is lower... like the signs and ceiling. Gene and Ryan, two guys on the trip, are both 6 foot 5 and had an interesting time walking through the airport. They also had smoke boxes where people could go in and smoke cigs. Dont see that in the States at all. Frankfurt also had people riding around on bikes everywhere. Vanessa got a picture of them. haha The flight from Frankfurt to Rome was easy. I was asleep for 90% of the flight. The flight attendants were on strike... which only means they wont serve you food or drinks. But they did anyway, so I really dont know what was going on there.

My first impression of Italy... HOT. And HUMID. Being here for 3 days already, Im used to it, kind of. But seriously, 2 or 3 showers a day with cold water isnt abnormal. I share a room with 1 of the 3 Jessicas on the trip. And there are 10 girls in my apartment. And 2 bathrooms. Thank god we have figured out a system to use the bathrooms. haha Its really cool though because we all get along really well and most of us were on the group flight.

Ive had some troubles with my class though. The art history teacher is treating this class like a masters research class. A 10 page research paper PLUS a 30 minute lecture about a certain site we visit and we teach the class. We would actually be in school and the library the whole time we were here. And we wouldnt be able to see Rome or Italy at all. So I switched to the Geography class, which I think a lot of other people are going to do.

This weekend I think a group of us are taking a train down to the beach and hanging out down there. Next weekend is Orvieto and possibly Florence for the weekend. Then the 3rd weekend is Venice. And the last weekend is up in the air. Some of the guys were thinking of flying to Paris for the weekend, which I would totally be down for. If I could find someone who wanted to go, I was thinking of flying to Prauge for the weekend. But Paris is a lot closer and I think cheaper all around. We will just have to see.

And sorry these posts dont have pictures yet. To be honest Ive only taken a few pictures. Ive been waaay to busy and jet lagged. I found an internet cafe on the corner by school, so hopefully pictures will be up soon. Yay! Today I think Im going to walk around the Vatican with some of the girls and get some really cool pictures.

And to be honest, so much has happened, so I know Im forgetting a few things here and there. All I know is ive gotten lost twice, and getting lost at night isnt fun. lol But my Italian skills are kicking in, limited as they are. haha

So with that, Im off to go grab some lunch and walk around the Vatican.

Ciao! xoxo